KARAHCI, July 20: The Pakistan Hotels Association (PHA) has identified four main irritants — levy of bed tax, lack of industrial status, customs duty and sales tax — that hamper the growth of tourism in Pakistan.

The PHA in a statement on Wednesday said that Pakistan was the only country where guests are charged bed tax on behalf of the provincial government. All the four provinces charge different taxes and modus operandi also differs from each other. The matter had been taken up with various authorities but no positive outcome had appeared.

Since Pakistan becomes a popular destination of tourists, bed tax should be removed from all the provinces with immediate effect.

The hotel industry was given the status of industry in 1990 but the same had not been implemented in terms of facilities and benefits. Hotels are being charged utilities at commercial rates instead of industrial rates.

The government, the PHA said, should allow hoteliers to import duty free equipments required for balancing, modernization and rehabilitation.

At present hotels pay varied taxes and there is a need to club all the taxes together and charge it under one head.