Angry hoteliers were locked in battle with the Balearics government last week, trying to delay the introduction of an eco-tax. The controversial tax is currently set for a 1 May launch but travel industry officials would like to see it put off until November.
The tax - an average of one euro (64p) per person per day - is fiercely opposed not only by hoteliers but also tour operators who think their tourist numbers (ie short-term profits) will dive if it goes through.
I say: stop whingeing, all you tight-fisted, short-term thinkers, and accept the case for a green tax.
The islands of Mallorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera need revenue from the tax to create recycling plants and national parks, pull down disused eyesore hotel blocks and protect heritage sites. They have a resident population of just 800,000, so isn't it right that the 11 million tourists who deplete the water supplies, pollute the beaches, congest the roads and stampede the mountain trails should contribute towards maintaining the beauty of the islands for future generations and ensuring better-quality holidays for those returning?
The Association of British Travel Agents isn't against the principle of an eco-tax but describes its introduction as 'muddled'. Keith Betton, head of corporate affairs, warned that there could be angry scenes at hotel check-outs when tourists were presented with the eco-tax bill, which would be higher at posh hotels than at cheaper ones.
But surely, if you can afford to stay in a hotel, you can afford 64p a day? Just drink one less beer, smoke a couple fewer fags or cut down on the chip intake. Refrain from a McDonald's at Gatwick on the way there. Or, if you really can't face it, stay at home and pollute your own backyard.
As for the hoteliers opposing the eco-tax (brainchild of a green, left-wing Balearics government), they should stop being so greedy. Their obsession with the next set of profits and pleasing their shareholders at the cost of the environment could be the destruction of their own business. If there are no nice beaches left in 20 years, they won't need to run hotels. Holidaymakers will have moved on elsewhere to pollute the next cheap resort.
A problem with many hotels is that they only make an effort on the environmental front when it directly saves them money. (It's rare now to find a hotel that doesn't have a tag in the bathroom saying towels are washed at your request rather than automatically, to help save water and energy.)
The Balearic hoteliers are claiming the tax is illegal and are challenging it. But the court case won't be heard till 2003 and any money taken from holidaymakers before then will have to be kept in trust and paid back if the hoteliers win. Which spells administrative nightmare and gloom for the environment.
But what I really want to know is: can it really be such as bad thing if fewer tourists go to the Balearics? The islands are saturated and a bit more space on the beach sounds great to me.
