€1,000 entry tax for Rome

A €1,000 daily entry tax for touring coaches visiting the City of Rome has been proposed. International Road Transport Union (IRU), representing the European bus and coach industry, strongly opposes these plans. In a letter to Rome’s Mobility Department, IRU requested an urgent meeting with city authorities and called for proper consultation with the bus and coach industry to take place ahead of any detailed proposals.

IRU’s President of its Passenger Transport Council, Yves Mannaerts, said, ‘If implemented, such a plan, elaborated without any consultation whatsoever, will dramatically harm the European group tourism business. It will also severely affect seamless city mobility and the entire Roman hospitality industry. The proposed tax represents intolerable discrimination against the touring coach sector.’

Oleg Kamberski, IRU’s lead on its passenger transport work, added, ‘In 2014 90,000 tourist coaches entered the City of Rome. With each coach representing an average of €8,000 of spending per day, restricting them in the way planned will seriously impact Rome’s tourist economy. On top of that, it will result in more traffic, more congestion, more CO2 and more accidents, as those visitors still wanting to come to Rome will find less environmentally friendly and less safe ways to travel.’

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