Eastern Finland rejected the idea of a tourist tax amid the absence of guests from Russia. This is reported by the newspaper Itä-Savo.
The issue of introducing a tourist tax in Finland has caused fierce debate, the newspaper writes.
“The new tax, apparently, is most beneficial for the regions of Northern Finland, where the flow of tourists is inexhaustible. In Eastern Finland, on the contrary, the idea of a tourist tax is seen as a low blow or the last nail in the coffin,” the publication quoted by Business Petersburg as saying.
Eastern Finland, which lost tourists from Russia, for four years, has not managed to replace them with guests from other countries, the newspaper notes. Domestic tourism does not save the region either, since the Finns themselves are in no hurry to discover the “incredible lake landscapes of Eastern Finland.”
Finland is already famous for its high prices for everything, so the tour tax “will be perceived by tourists only as an additional levy that does not bring any benefit.” Instead, the eastern municipalities are calling on Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and his government to improve transport accessibility in Eastern Finland, in particular to restore passenger rail service between Savonlinna and the west of the country.
The Finnish Ministry of Finance launched the procedure for public discussion of the initiative to introduce a tour tax in December. It will be new in the Finnish tax system. It is proposed to make it local: the decision on the introduction will be made by municipalities, and tax revenues will be directed to municipal budgets.
The whole of Eastern Finland is experiencing financial difficulties due to the severance of ties with Russia and the shortage of foreign tourists. It got to the point that they were lured to this region by deception, offering tours under the guise of traveling to Lapland. Several such trips in December for the British were disrupted due to the lack of snow.
As EADaily reported, the region of South Karelia is losing € 1 million a day due to the absence of Russian tourists.