Visitor's Environment Tax: A New Form of Taxing Scheme or Effective Preservation Measure?by | 12-02-2016 00:18 |
|---|
|
Visitor's Environment Tax: A New Form of Taxing Scheme or Effective Preservation Measure? Hello ladies and gentleman, this is the ambassador of South Korea. Just like USA, where primaries and caucuses are currently being held, Korea is waiting for the general election, which is scheduled to happen in next April. Many candidates have proposed various pledges, ranging from economy to environment, but the policy mentioned in Jeju Island is attracting a large interest. Jeju Island, sometimes referred as Hawaii of Korea, is a major tourist attraction, and attracts both domestic and international tourists due to its UNESCO-certified natural heritage. It has peculiar scenic view of volcanic mountains and subtropical flora. Just as many natural heritage sites do, Jeju has been recently suffering from increasing amount of natural hazards, including trash material from tourists.   Jeju island So, one of the congressional candidates suggests that the island administration must collect 'natural preservation tax' from incoming visitors. As most of the natural hazards are caused by external visitors, he believes that they must be responsible for the financial impact that might burden the island authorities. Opponents insists that the tax fee is fixed no matter how much garbage the tourists incur during their stay. As of the current plan, the fee is set to 1000 won (about $1) per visitor. For the opponents, the new fee does not seem to be a real incentive for the tourists to finally reduce the amount of trash they leave at the natural heritage. Anyway to conclude, it is evident that the people must be responsible for the damage they cause to the environment in any means. It could be either through complicated governmental measures or through voluntary practice, but acknowledging each person's duty to the environment is a necessary start.
|
