Europeans taxing foreign tourists

Seeing Berlin's iconic landmarks will soon cost you more.

Cash-strapped European governments - at all levels - are hoping new "tourist taxes" will help them get out of their hopeless debt situations.

As if Europe wasn't already too expensive!

Berlin is the latest city in Europe to be "considering" a tourist tax which would add about $10 CDN to a tourist's hotel bill.

Last month, Venice added a $10 per night tax to a tourist's room charge and that followed similar moves by cities in Ireland, Greece, Great Britain - actually, almost every city in Europe now has new tourist taxes!

Which is why I think it's ironic that the European Commission - the world' s most useless and expensive government body - is bitching because the United States has introduced a new surcharge for travellers arriving from Europe.

The U.S. now collects $14 from Europeans as well as Australians, New Zealanders, Koreans and Japanese upon arrival - Canadians, so far, have been spared the expense.