Plans for a tourism tax in Wales that would see money reinvested into communities has attracted criticism from businesses.
A public consultation into whether to give councils the power to charge visitors who are staying overnight in the country was launched on Tuesday.
The Welsh Government said it would be following in the footsteps of more than 40 countries around the world which have introduced a form of visitor levy, including Greece, France, Amsterdam, Barcelona, and the US state of California, if it were to go ahead.
Read more: Plans for over 100 energy efficient homes in North Wales unveiled
How much visitors could be charged has not yet been decided, but finance minister Rebecca Evans said it would be a 鈥渟mall contribution鈥 that would go towards maintaining local amenities such as beaches, pavements, parks, toilets and footpaths.
But many reliant on tourism have said now is not the time to impose such a tax in case it deters visitors who are already cutting back on holidays and short breaks away due to higher bills.
Warning that it could severely affect businesses which are already struggling due to the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the now soaring energy and food prices.
Chairman of North Wales Tourism Christopher Frost said: 鈥淲e can appreciate the motivation for the tourism levy following the pressures over the last few years, especially to 鈥榟oney pot鈥 locations.
鈥淲e can also appreciate that the government feels that a call for a tourism levy is legitimate and has the backing of the electorate following the last election here in Wales.
鈥淗owever, the economic and social landscape has changed exponentially since the last election.
鈥淭he biggest change in the economic landscape is clearly the cost-of-living crisis, which has seen an enormous surge in the price of energy, utilities and food.
鈥淔or many, prices have in some cases doubled or tripled and for many businesses this has made the cost of doing business extremely high.
鈥淲ith the sector skills shortage, the challenges from an unregulated Airbnb market, the rise in employment costs, this is the wrong time to launch a consultation on a bed tax that will add further to the cost of doing business, will hit the confidence of an industry that has not yet overcome the challenges of the pandemic and will create further bad publicity for an industry that is already struggling.鈥
Earlier this year the owner of one of Wales鈥 biggest attractions, Dan-yr-Ogof at the National Showcaves Centre for Wales, banned Welsh Government ministers including the First Minister Mark Drakeford from the site over what he called their 鈥渁nti-tourism鈥 policies.
The Welsh Tories have said the tax 鈥減oses grave dangers for Wales鈥 and would 鈥渓eave jobs hanging in the balance鈥, with the party calling Welsh Labour 鈥渁rrogant鈥 for pressing ahead with the plans 鈥渄espite near-unanimous opposition from the Welsh tourism industry鈥.
The Conservatives have claimed that if the Welsh levy is comparable to those imposed in other European countries, a family of four staying in the country for six nights could be charged on average around 拢75.
Sign up to the BusinessLive Wales newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn
As well as an in-depth early morning newsletter, we will be sending out regular breaking news email alerts. To sign up to this service
And, follow us on to catch the latest stories and to network with the Welsh business community.
Ms Evans said: 鈥淭hese proposals are about preparing for the future.
鈥淥ur intention is to bring about a sense of shared responsibility between residents and visitors, to protect, and invest in, our local areas.
鈥淏y asking visitors 鈥 whether they have travelled from within Wales or from further afield 鈥 to make a small contribution towards maintaining and enhancing the place they are visiting, we will encourage a more sustainable approach for tourism.鈥
The proposed levy is one of the policies brought about through the Welsh Government鈥檚 co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru.
It could take a number of years for the levy to be brought in should it be approved by the Senedd.
Plaid Cymru鈥檚 Cefin Campbell said: 鈥淲hile Wales may be the first place in the 海角视频 to introduce such a levy, we do not believe it will be the last 鈥 as we have seen recently, a visitor levy may soon be introduced in Edinburgh so Wales is not alone.
鈥淪hould local authorities decide to implement a visitor levy, it could make a real difference in communities across Wales to help develop and protect local services and infrastructure.鈥
People will be able to submit their views on the levy on the government鈥檚 website from Tuesday afternoon.
Read more:
- "Protect the economy, businesses and people's livelihoods" Welsh business leaders tell new PM Liz Truss
- The man in charge of Britain鈥檚 biggest energy port
- Wales' first exotic animal vet practice opens following six-figure backing
- Trading confidence in Wales tumbles as cost of doing business crisis takes hold
New coding academy launched to address FinTech skills gap in Wales
