“The mayor of Bari has appointed, with culpable delay, the three members of the Steering Committee relating to the application of the tourist tax, the unfair tax that tourists must pay without receiving any service as compensation. Three people were chosen to represent the trade associations who have nothing to do with the knowledge, attendance and management of the city’s tourist accommodation system. One of them, a spa tourism entrepreneur, lives between Trani and Rome and works in Margherita di Savoia, the second carries out managerial activities for Confcommercio Puglia and lives in Martina Franca, the third person, however, has representative roles in the provincial Confesercenti and lives and works in Molfetta. In short, all three do not live in Bari, but frequent it occasionally, like the many commuters who are sometimes forced to stay there overnight using the Bari accommodation facilities and, therefore, paying the tourist tax. These appointments do not in any way represent the trade associations of the tourist accommodation segment of Bari which has as its main operational nucleus the hotel accommodation companies (80 percent of which are represented by Federalberghi) and those of the non-hotel sector”. Federalberghi in Bari writes this in a note announcing a new reminder to the TAR, because “the Municipality’s provision does not respect the “representation” criterion enshrined in Article 14 of the Municipal Regulation for the application of the tourist tax”, continues the Note.
“In the management of the tourist tax – continues the note – once again the mayor and his branch councilor demonstrate sloppiness and lack of attention towards city tourism. Furthermore, as the latest serious judicial events concerning companies and municipal bodies have unfortunately confirmed, the Mayor, or whoever for him, has reconfirmed his incredible light-heartedness in signing appointment decrees within his competence without even reading the CVs of the interested parties, simply trusting of the reporting institution and/or group. The unfair tax on tourists was imposed as early as October 2023, even if the “procedure was not yet completed” (as noted by the Puglia Regional Administrative Court). Even the approval of the guidelines of the Steering Committee was made in the Cesarini area. The Mayor and the councillor, however, celebrated the first million in collections and the registration of a new revenue item in the municipal budget, even if, by law, the identification of the destination of the tax proceeds must be preventive and not posthumous to the collection. After seven months, the first meeting of a Committee with seven members, mostly municipal employees, took place
with the three due to the trade associations completely unrelated to the dynamics of Bari tourist accommodation”.
Councilor Ines Pierucci’s reply is dry: “I don’t think that competence in the field of tourism is directly proportional to the address of residence”
