Should county governments collect levies from tourism?

(Photo: Courtesy)

Most tourism facilities and services fall under the custody of county governments. Among the  local functions of tourism are county tourism planning; enforcement of county tourism laws and regulations; marketing and promotion of county tourism destinations; research, information and management.

But the Tourism Regulatory Authority collects licence levies from tourist facilities. These facilities and service providers have been asking to benefit directly from these bodies in vain. One of the major roles devolved to the counties is tourism product development, but most of the development allocation to the counties is limited as the departments responsible for tourism are required to justify higher allocations and returns from tourism.

Tourism facilities - museums, national and marine parks, and other resources such as reserves and beaches - although in the custody of the national government, depend on services provided by the county governments. These services include waste management, water and sewerage, street lights, accessibility and infrastructural development like roads.

As such, there is need for county collections from tourism to finance them at source. It is for this reason that the county governments have been trying to collaborate with the national government and push for the repeal of the Tourism Act 2011 that is not at all aligned with the devolved functions of local tourism.