The UK's tourism and hospitality industry contributes £12b to government coffers in taxes every year, according to Tourism Alliance figures. Were the Government to act on one of the proposals made in an official inquiry into local government funding by introducing a bed tax, that figure could rise by hundreds of millions of pounds a year - but at what cost to the industry?
A further tax on hospitality - and 5-10% is the figure being bandied about - would nudge accommodation tax in the UK towards 25%, making it a potentially terminal impediment to encouraging custom and therefore to generating revenue.
That's why, from this week, Caterer and Hotelkeeper is calling on all hospitality operators to express their disapproval of a possible bed tax by signing the petition.
Our country is already suffering from a record tourism deficit - simply put, global tourism takes more money out of the UK than domestic tourism brings into it. Making hotels more expensive to stay in would drive more domestic tourists overseas and discourage foreign visitors from travelling to the UK. We cannot afford to see the competitiveness of UK operators hampered any further.
Already, our stance has the support of the British Hospitality Association, the Tourism Alliance and budget hotel operator Travelodge - whose chief executive,
Grant Hearn, has already been vocal in his disapproval of the potential new levy.
It isn't only hotel operators that stand to suffer. If you run any sort of hospitality business that depends upon visitors opting to stay in local hotels, you can expect a bed tax to have an impact on your bottom line.
That's why we are asking you to lend your weight to our call to say "no" to bed tax.