With all due respect to Seabreeze Resort owner Elaine Thoma [“Hospitality tax will affect tourism to area,” May 18], I believe the municipal and regional district tax will have the opposite effect and actually help us increase local tourism, for the reasons outlined by the others interviewed for the article.
Every year my wife and I travel with our mountain bikes throughout Canada and the United States by motor vehicle, staying in hotels and motels along the way and spending a considerable amount of money in a great many communities.
When booking a room I do enquire about the room rate, but not once have I ever asked how much the additional tax will be. Why not? Because I already realize an additional 10 to 15 per cent will be added to the quoted rate.
However, because I have been aware of efforts by Tourism Powell River and Sunshine Coast Tourism to introduce this levy, I always check my invoice to confirm whether or not there is a local tourism tax, and there is almost always an extra one or two per cent added on. Does this upset me? Not at all. Will it prevent me from returning to that community? Absolutely not.
This tax is such a pittance compared to what a tourist such as myself spends on a road trip for gasoline, rooms, meals and entertainment. I am actually happy to help promote such communities in this way when I travel, and I do in fact return again and again to the places I love.
This tax will in fact be good for Thoma’s business in the long run. She will be doing her part to promote our area by collecting it.
Wayne Brewer
Westview Avenue
