HAS MALTA LOST MORE THAN THE AZURE WINDOW?

If you visit the island of Malta you will be asked to pay an ‘Eco Tax’ of 50cents per person per night (capped at 5Euros).

This is called an ‘eco tax’ and when I asked the staff at the hotel I was staying in what it is used for I was told: ‘the environment’.

But this isn’t the case.

There is nothing remotely ‘eco’ about this tax. You’d expect an environment tax perhaps to help local wildlife, or create a marine protected area, or protect the landscape, or rehabilitate an area of damaged countryside – or something similar.

No, not this ‘eco tax’. It does the opposite.

This ‘eco tax’, according to the Maltese government, ‘will be directed solely and exclusively to upgrade and embellish the local infrastructure in touristic areas around the Maltese Islands.’ (Source: http://www.mta.com.mt/environmentalcontribution)

In other words, this tax is being used to build roads and other infrastructure to support tourism.  There is nothing wrong with a tax on tourists to pay for this – but calling it an ‘eco tax’ is, at best, disingenuous.

We contacted the Malta Tourism Authority and asked them: “Please could you tell me what the eco tax has been spent on so far, and what the plans for spending are in the future? Please could you also explain why a tourism infrastructure tax is misleadingly called an ‘eco tax’?”

However, they declined to comment.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chantal Cooke is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster with a passion for the planet. In 2002 she co-founded the award-winning radio station PASSION for the PLANET and in 2009 Chantal was awarded London Leader in Sustainability status. Chantal also runs a successful communications agency Panpathic Communications http://www.panpathic.com/