Brittany wants to triple the tourist tax to finance transport

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The horizon will always be as blue. Oysters from the Bay of Cancale (Ille-et-Vilaine) will always have this inimitable taste of the sea. But for your next stays in Brittany, the bill may be higher. The region wants to triple the tourist tax. So, Christophe Wasser, hotelier, did his calculations: “Tomorrow, if we ever go from €1.35, I did the calculation, we would be at €4.05 per person, per night. Which means that for two people per day, they would pay €8.10.”

He says he has not increased his prices despite inflation. According to him, this increase would encourage customers to make choices, for example to spend less at restaurants. “We’re still hitting on tourism. I think it’s a bit easy to get this money from this place,” he adds.

This proposal is controversial, including among tourists, in a region where the sector represents 8% of the wealth produced. “A small increase, why not, since unfortunately in life, everything increases, but 60%, for me, is a bit expensive”estimates a local resident. For a tourist, everything is a question of compromise: “We don’t like the increases anyway, but if they are well used and well distributed to make improvements in the region, we often come two or three times a year, we are not against it.”

The Brittany region is counting on this increase to support investments in the transport network. Today, they are partly financed by a tax on businesses, based on payroll. Loïg Chesnais-Girard, president of the Brittany region, underlines: “Is it once again up to the men and women who work in Brittany to pay it through taxes, or are we making those who benefit from Brittany pay it? This is a debate on which I have stated a position.”

But some see it as a disadvantage compared to other regions. On the other side of the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel, only 20 km away, Normandy does not anticipate such an increase. In her gîte with six mobile homes, Mathilde Bunouf worries: “What we fear is that people will stay in Normandy, come to visit our Brittany, but sleep in Normandy. In this case, we will not benefit from welcoming them to our home.”

Before the measure is examined in the National Assembly, professionals warn: it is the majority of French people who will support the increase. French tourists represent 80% of visitors to Brittany, 42% of whom come from the Great West.