The sleeper's

tax to go

Amid reports of tourist dis satisfaction and opposition from hotel owners, Western Samoa’s Mataafa Government has finally come out with a surprise announce ment—the hotel bed tax of $1 a person per night will be abolished on July 1, after only a few months, Instead of this unpopular bed tax, the government will substitute an airport departure tax of 50c for each citizen and $1 for every other person It is a question of removing what the government probably feels is a thorny problem and substituting something less offensive. The govern ment has been made aware, largely due to the press, of visitors’ com plaints against the tax but did this necessarily mean all visitors opposed it?

The government has also been pressured by hotel owners who, along with tour operators generally agree that the tax has discouraged visitors from staying longer, or forced them to cut their stay and caused the can cellation of many tour groups. But to what extent were these allegations justified?

The Government learnt the tax was having an unpleasant effect on the country’s tourist industry Like other nations, Western Samoa’ needs the tourists for her development so the government decided the onlv sensible thing was to abolish the bed tax.