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Attention meeting planners: study finds states with highest, lowest taxes
A list of the top five 2011 US cities with the highest and lowest taxes for tourists is out to show major cost differences of as much as 56 percent, according to an annual study by the Global Business Travel Association Foundation.
Listed as the five lowest tax burdened cities out of 50 destinations are three Florida cities: Fort Lauderdale, with Fort Myers in second, and West Palm Beach in third.
“All are in both general sales tax and travel-related services such as car rental, hotel and meals,” said CNN.
Following in fourth was Detroit; Portland, Oregon was fifth.
The five highest-tax imposing cities on travelers had Chicago in first, New York City in second, Seattle in third, Boston in fourth, and Kansas City, Missouri in fifth, according to the study.
The study's findings show drastic tourism tax differences between cities, in some cases 80 percent more in comparison, according to Joe Bates, the foundation's director of research.
He says the rankings could have considerable influence among corporate travel planners.
"If you are a travel manager planning a meeting, this is important information to take into consideration," Bates says.
"And if you are a retail business attempting to lure travelers, this tax rate differential is a competitive advantage or disadvantage."
Chicago's visitor spending in 2010 added more than $11.1 billion to the city's economy, with $616 million of that total coming from tax revenue alone, according to statistics from the Travel Industry Association of America.
In contrast, Fort Lauderdale reported just below 11 million visitors in 2010. The visitors spent $8.69 billion in the city with $36.5 million generated by tourism tax revenues, according to the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau website.
The top five cities with the lowest discriminatory travel tax rates or travel-related services — not including general sales tax — are the California cities of Orange County first, San Diego in second, San Jose in third, Burbank in fourth and Ontario in fifth.
By David Wilkening
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