Local business owners critical of Colchester County's tourism marketing levy: 'We know far better how to market our business'

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seemed pleased with their new tourism marketing levy, business owners Greg and Aleyda Knight aren't as welcoming of the extra charges., a property in Upper Economy with twelve cabins available to rent year-round. Their front yard has a full view of Cobequid Bay, a spectacular sight for tourists and stay-cationers alike.

Most of Greg and Aleyda's customers book their cottages by credit card. Greg said they would be charged a higher credit card fee for transactions, including the levy. "Colchester is very, very rural," said Aleyda."We don't have the big hotels that they have in Halifax. These are small operators like us, husband and wife, who are just running the business."

"There are people who have been coming here for 30 years. They just love it, and they keep coming back, but they don't attend those community events. We're not trying to knock those events in any way, but we don't think it's right for us to collect a tax imposed upon our customers to support a pow-wow, a rodeo, or things like that. It's not our customers' responsibility to support those events.

While there is no concrete answer to how much this levy will raise for tourism and marketing initiatives in the region, Mantin estimates it will be between $600,000 and $700,000 annually. "In addition to that, over the past seven to eight years, there's been much conversation across the region about enacting the levy," Mantin said."There's consultation that's been going on for years now, and once the provincial legislation came through , we were able to enact the levy.

 

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