La politica fiscale nel settore turistico: un confronto internazionale

Abstract

Fiscal policy plays a key role in the competitiveness of the economic system of a country, and in particular in tourism. Specific tourism taxes such as airport taxes, accommodation, etc. have to be added to the already high tax burden on all the productive sectors. Such taxes increase the level of prices of tourist products and services, further reducing the competitiveness of the sector. Some studies show that the tourism sector is experiencing high levels of demand elasticity with respect to price, just a slight increase in the prices of tourism products (due to the increase in taxes) in a country is enough to lose tourists, as they turn to cheaper destinations. The measures of the economic policy should take into account the potential of the tourism sector to generate income and employment, addressing interventions for the sector to draw a policy that increases the competitiveness of the sector and that is focused on what is happening in competitor countries. Starting from the competitiveness of Italian tourism, the study will draw a picture on taxes in the tourism sector, analyzing the positive and negative effects of this approach, and then comparing the Italian situation with other European countries.