Should We Tax Tourism? Theoretical Justification from the Economics of Non-Renewable Resources

In this work the author discusses the theoretical foundation for the introduction of a taxation mechanism at tourism destinations with the aim of indicating an appropriate policy implementation for the use of local torusim assets. In fact, the justification of this kind of policy proposal requires the identification of specific reasons which, according to the economic literature, are mainly represented by the need to internilize tourism external costs and to capture toourism rents in order to reinvest end ensure the sustanability of the local economy while facing non-renewable and scarese natural resources exploitation. To this aim, strong support comes from a reflection on the theory of the Pigovian tax and the consideration of other issues such as that of the "rent capture" cnceptt and Hartwick's prescription. This economic theoretica framework can give us the opportunity to identify appropriate arguments which can play an enforcing role in justifying the implementation of a taxation mechanism at destination.