The most common example of specific tourism taxation around the world is the hotel room tax.
This is usually designed as a charge on stays at hotel establishments,
which can be anad valoremtax (with the rate as a percentage of prices)
or anad quantumamount (unit tax) per night.
These receipts are sometimes earmarked to fund projects aimed
at improving the quality of tourist activities and preserving the environment.
At first sight, room taxes seem to combine some of the above-mentioned objectives:
revenue collection and coverage of costs, also allowing for a strategic action in the market,
acting as a deterrent for the least desirable segment of tourism demand in terms of added value
(the wholesale packages that target low and middle incomes).
Moreover, they can be easily de-centralized and thus be available for tourism-oriented regions.
Finally, distributional issues may be incorporated in tax design by distinguishing
between different types and categories of tourism establishments