Are tourism taxes pricing the public out of the countryside?

Starting this month, holidaymakers along the Dorset coast will find themselves having to pay the UK's first seaside 'tourist tax' - an extra £2 per room per night - if they stay in larger hotels in Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch.

- John Craven

Other vacation hotspots, such as Cornwall, the Lake District, Scotland and Wales will be watching closely as they debate whether to bring in a similar levy.

With many seaside towns hiking their parking prices (according to a Motorscan survey, Brighton is now the costliest at £24.21 for eight hours) and even charging for a stroll along the pier, these add-ons chip away at family budgets at a time when overall holiday costs are rising. For some, it could pose the question: is escaping to our glorious coast and countryside getting too expensive?

But the travel industry believes holidays on home turf are good value; we certainly did our staycationing best last year, spending £38.3bn on holiday accommodation and £21.8bn on UK-based tourist activities. And though the concept of a tourist tax is new here, it is common abroad. Among countries imposing it in various ways are France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Japan and most Caribbean islands. Venice recently created a storm by ordering daytrippers to pay €5 each to enter.