The Tourism Industry Association of New Brunswick will continue to advocate for the implementation of a tourism levy, despite a decision by the provincial government not to proceed with the fee.
The ‘hotel tax’ would add three per cent to most accommodations in the province. It would collect extra money to support tourism marketing initiatives and tourism development in New Brunswick.
TIANB president Kathy Weir tells Global News that a tourism marketing levy has been a priority file of the organization for several years. She says in May the group received word from the Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture that the government was not prepared to legislate the levy because of the HST increase.
READ MORE: N.B. tourism association wants marketing levy in place by 2016
“The levy though is on accommodations- on travelers. It’s on people outside of our province who are coming in the summer,” Weir said.
Weir says the organization believes they’ve identified more than $6 million that could be added to New Brunswick’s marketing initiatives, and would be funneled through regional priorities.
Tourism Fredericton Manager of Economic Development, Tourism & Culture David Seabrook says he’s disappointed with the government’s decision not to include the tax in their mandate.
“New Brunswick is one of the last jurisdictions in North America without the ability to create a hotel tax. We’re leaving marketing dollars on the table that would grow the tourism industry from the inside. We could do better marketing, better tourism product development, better growth of festivals, better sport tourism events,” Seabrook said.
He says it’s important the government not drop the ball on this opportunity.
“Either create a province-wide hotel tax or give the municipalities the power to create local hotel levies in partnership with the hotel sector,” Seabrook said.
Delta Fredericton General Manager and president of the Hotel Association Sara Holyoke says she would like to see the levy legislated. Operators are able to implement a voluntary levy, but Holyoke says that most businesses are not interested in doing it on their own.
“The benefits are certainly to keep us competitive when marketing to other destination cities or provinces such as Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. And when we’re trying to attract tourism for province or states then that certainly assists us in doing that,” Holyoke said.
According to TIANB, levies applied in Canada vary from 1.5 percent to 3 percent. In the U.S., some cities and counties can levy local hotel taxes at rates varying up to 7 percent.
Government Response
The Minister of Tourism, Heritage and Culture John Ames was unavailable for an interview, but spokesperson Jason Hoyt from the department issued the following statement:
“As was announced to the group in the spring, government is not prepared to move forward with legislation for a tourism marketing fund at this time. Tourism, heritage and culture looks forward to continuing to work with TIANB and all of our partners to grow and strengthen the tourism industry in New Brunswick.
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