A destination marketing levy of three or four percent will eventually be applied on hotel bills in many New Brunswick communities.
The Higgs government is planning to make changes to the Local Governance Act so municipal governments can collect the levy.
Moncton mayor Dawn Arnold says allowing the city to collect these funds means it can better market itself and hopefully attract big events.
“It’s a competitive world and a destination marketing levy will finally give us an advantage that everyone else already has around the world,” she notes.
Arnold recently sat down with the mayors of Fredericton and Saint John and this was among the major topics on the agenda.
The Tourism Industry Association of New Brunswick (TIANB) states how neighbouring jurisdictions such as Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and the State of Maine already collect tourism levies.
TIANB believes this will put communities in this province on a level playing field.
The levy still has to be adopted by the provincial legislature.
