Cairns bed tax: Queensland Government knocks back tourism levy plan
The creation of a tourism levy has been knocked on the head by the state government because of a pre-election commitment not to introduce any new taxes. But Mayor Bob Manning reckons that’s exactly why they should back it. Read more here.
Cairns
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Cairns Mayor Bob Manning is standing by his proposal for a tourism levy despite the recommendation from local governments being rejected by the state.
“We are extremely disappointed in the Palaszczuk Government’s decision not to accept the recommendation for a tourism levy at this juncture,” Cr Manning said.
The disappointment comes after a vast majority of local governments voted to recommend the levy to the state government at the Local Government Association of Queensland’s annual conference in Cairns last month,
“This proposal had overwhelming support at the recent LGAQ conference (85% of the votes) and importantly would be an opt-in system, therefore individual councils (in conjunction with their local tourism body) could decide if it was right for them,” Cr Manning said.
Speaking at the DestinationQ forum on the Gold Coast on Thursday, Queensland tourism minister Stirling Hinchliffe said the government would not be supporting a tourism levy but it was up to the tourism industry to continue the conversation.
Mr Hinchliffe said the state government would not adopt the recommendation as it was at odds with its pledge to introduce no new taxes.
But Cr Manning hit back at suggestions the proposal was requesting a new tax.
“Local governments are not asking the Queensland Government to introduce a tax,” he said.
“The request is simply for a legislative change to empower local governments to opt-in to charge a visitor levy to sustain their local tourism industry.”
He also still believes it was a fairer avenue for injecting additional funding into local tourism industries.
“A user-pays visitor levy is a fairer way to ensure the tourism industry can thrive, it takes financial pressure off the local community and ratepayers, and it reduces the burden on the state’s balance sheet.”
The recommendation looked to charge a 2.5 per cent levy on short-term accommodation state wide.
Council modelling showed the initiative could raise more than $16m annually for destination marketing.
Tourism Tropical North Queensland CEO Mark Olsen said it was disappointing that a visitor levy was off the table.
“We’ve seen over the past two years what a difference investing in destination marketing can have in the region like Tropical North Queensland,” he said.
“The Federal Government’s $10m investment in TTNQ’s domestic marketing over two years has driven more than $300 million in additional visitor spending.
“Work by Deloitte Access Economics shows that TNQ could generate an extra $1.3 billion in additional visitor spending over the next decade with a visitor levy.”
Mr Olsen said TTNQ would continue the conversation with the state government, industry, and local goverment around “options to get a greater investment in destination marketing to help Queensland to the $44 billion target by 2032 without the visitor levy”.
Cr Manning is standing by the proposal, highlighting the need to remain competitive in a world of destinations looking for market share.
“More than 100 destinations around the world already lead the way in using this measure to maintain and grow their market share. There is a real danger that without innovative solutions such as this, that we could fail to compete globally,” Cr Manning said.
“A tourism levy remains the best option in providing adequate funding for destination marketing and also the best fiscal outcome for the state.”
The knock-back by state government comes as Cairns was announced as hosts for next year’s Destination IQ and DestinationQ Forums, and the Queensland Tourism Awards gala ceremony - something Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said was a big coup for Cairns.
“DestinationQ is Queensland’s leading tourism industry event which was attended by around 900 delegates on the Gold Coast this year,” the Premier said.
“I’m so excited that next year, it will be held in Cairns along with Queensland tourism’s night of nights – the Queensland Tourism Awards – celebrating our remarkable tourism businesses that make our state a destination of choice for travellers.”
Tourism week in Cairns including Destination IQ, DestinationQ and the annual Queensland Tourism Awards is from 22 to 24 November 2023.
Mr Olsen said it was exciting to host the three prestigious events and very timely as the destination ramps up its international tourism recovery.
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Originally published as Cairns bed tax: Queensland Government knocks back tourism levy plan
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