[gwright]

I don't think it is quite accurate to say that tourists are not paying taxes.

Tourists patronize all sorts of businesses (lodging, transportation, entertainment, food, retail) and those businesses are paying taxes. The revenue from tourists is part of that business equation. Of course there are also specific taxes paid by tourists (airport fees, port fees, hotel room taxes, rental car taxes) as well as regular transactional taxes paid by everyone (sales/service/vat).