Visitors pay among the highest travel taxes in the nation when they come to Indianapolis — 17 percent on hotel rates, 15 percent on rental cars and 9 percent on meals.
That adds up to an average single-day, combined travel tax of $34.19, according to the Global Business Travel Association, which ranked Indianapolis No. 8 on its list of the worst 10 cities for travel taxes.
The rankings are based on the amount of hotel, car rental and meal taxes paid by travelers in the top 50 travel destinations in the United States.
Although Indianapolis officials say the city is still making great gains in visitors and is competitive with its convention-city peers' taxes, some in the hospitality industry say those taxes hurt business and are calling for them to be rolled back.
"We just keep inching up," said John Livengood, president of the Indiana Hotel and Lodging Association and president and CEO of the Indiana Restaurant Association. "If we want people to come here and spend money and help out, we are kind of shooting ourselves in the foot."
Shooting themselves in the foot? A little higher, I'd say. A combined tax of $34.19 a day for the privilege of visiting the city? That's just short of outrageous. If my sister didn't live in Indy, I doubt there'd be anything attractive enough to get me there to pay those kind of taxes.
