“The Municipality of Bari has not accumulated any delay in establishing the Committee. The procedures were carried out quickly and were carried out not by the mayor – who does not carry out such activities – but by the competent manager”. Thus in a note the Municipality responded to Federalberghi.
“If over time there have been delays in the introduction of the tourist tax, they were determined exclusively by the obstinate hostility, bordering on boycott, expressed by Federalberghi towards a form of modern purpose taxation, applied in almost all of country and also widely spread abroad. The usefulness of the tourist tax is also widely shared by the vast majority of citizens of Bari, aware that tourism represents a precious asset that must be simultaneously encouraged (with specific resources) without burdening the citizens themselves with taxes – continues the note – Even greater Surprising, if possible, is the criticism leveled at the Municipality for appointing people from outside Bari to the Committee. On this point, it is obviously worth specifying that the designations of the members in question were made directly by the trade associations and that the Municipality complied with them, as it should. Therefore, Federalberghi’s criticisms should be addressed directly to the designating associations, including the one to which Federalberghi belongs. And, however, it should also be specified that the objective of improving the attractiveness of the city of Bari requires an additional capacity for dialogue and the strength to overcome controversies and misunderstandings. If the meaning of the Federalberghi statement, net of the tones and arguments used, is to request greater openness to the economic actors of the territory, encouraging their participation, the Municipality has no prejudicial and declares itself ready to verify possible integrations of the representation in a to extend the plurality of points of view and opinions within a consultative body”.
