The council's submission on the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's proposal to introduce an international visitor conservation and tourism levy, to be collected nationally, said while it fundamentally supported the Government's attempts to ''define a package of funding tools'' to subsidise tourism infrastructure, a form of localised funding was the ''only avenue'' for Queenstown Lakes.
That sentiment has been echoed by chamber chief executive Ann Lockhart and chairman Craig Douglas.
In an email to members on Tuesday Mrs Lockhart and Mr Douglas said the chamber's board supported the council in finding an alternative way of funding necessary investment in the district ''while taking the load off residents''.
The email said a bed tax was a common funding mechanism in other countries.
There had been ''numerous'' discussions between the chamber, the past and present governments, Treasury and MBIE about that and the ''consistent response'' was the Government was not looking at a GST distribution to the council.
Unless the district was ''comfortable for the current ratepayers to pay all the costs'' associated with continued tourism growth and required infrastructure, alternative funding needed to be found and a bed tax was possibly the ''simplest method'', the email said.
''We know that some in the accommodation industry have valid reservations and there are questions yet to be addressed.
''However, the current status is the culmination of several decades of discussion, research and lobbying and we consider it is our best chance right now to influence the development of a local visitor levy,'' the email said.
