The United Kingdom is the main tourist market in the Valencian Community and as such it must be taken care of. That is what the new Minister of Tourism, Nuria Montes, said when sending a message to British tour operators and airlines that work in autonomous territory, giving her guarantees that the tourist tax will not be introduced.
She will do so through a letter that will be sent this coming week, in which she promises to remove the threat of the tax as an obstacle. This assurance is being provided at a time when British tourism has already reached pre-pandemic levels, but where the threat of the tax was hindering contracts for 2024, many of which should already have been brought into force.
The tax, approved by the previous government of the Valencian Community, was scheduled to be introduced on January 1 of next year, but only in those municipalities that so wished. However, it had already caused widespread rejection by the tourism sector, given the dissuasive effect that it was having in the markets. One of those who was particularly critical of the tax was Nuria Montes, until a few weeks ago the general secretary of the Hosbec hotel management association, who did not hesitate to denounce the damaging effects that this measure could have.
Well, now in her new position as Minister of Innovation, Industry, Commerce and Tourism, one of the first decisions she has made in relation to this issue has been to send a letter of calm to the British tour operators and airlines that work in the Community Valenciana.
In the letter, she writes of her election as minister following the elections held last May, which led to the change of government. After the introduction, Montes states that one of the first decisions taken by the new Executive has been to repeal the law that allowed the introduction of the tax, so that, she asserts, “no tourist tax can be established in the whole region during the next few years.”
The minister said that the Valencian Community includes popular destinations for visitors from the United Kingdom, such as Benidorm, the Costa Blanca, Alicante, Valencia, and many others.
The initiative adopted by Montes has been praised by the association Hosbec, taking into account the importance that the British market has for the Valencian Community, as well as for Benidorm and the Costa Blanca in particular. Although tourists from the UK have already reached 2019 levels, before the pandemic hit, there was uncertainty about next year. According to the new general secretary of the association, Mayte García, “we are finding that travel contracts are already being negotiated for next year, and we can see that tour operators are concerned about the tax. Until now, hotel managers did not know what to tell them, but thankfully now, all the uncertainty has gone.”
