Vacationing Americans can expect to pay, on average, 14 percent of their travel budgets toward taxes as they cross the country this summer, according to a survey of 50 top cities.
That means a family spending $1,500 would pay $210 in taxes.The survey was conducted by the Campaign to Keep Travel Competitive, an industry group seeking to draw attention to the rising level of taxes on travel-related expenses.
The taxes considered for the survey included lodging, restaurant, gasoline, auto rental and flight-related charges.
Among those categories, meal taxes were least, averaging 7.31 percent, compared with hotel taxes, averaging 11 percent, and car rental taxes, averaging 10.65 percent. Gas taxes averaged 36 cents a gallon.
Cities with hotel taxes of 14 percent or more included New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus and Seattle.
The lowest room tax was 8 percent in Las Vegas, a city known for revenue derived from visitors in less subtle ways.
The campaign wants to convince lawmakers at all levels of government that overtaxing travelers - considered convenient targets because they don't vote in the jurisdictions they visit - can be counterproductive.
The industry argues that if taxes get so high that people cut back on traveling, jobs will be lost.