Boston levies a .7% tax on hotel rooms above the state sales tax. I'm in the process of renting a house in Florida and recently discovered that the landlord needs to pay a tax on the rent.

My point? Governments everywhere will find a way to levy extra fees from "out of towners". At least this is a flat fee. And if you can afford to fly and stay on St. Martin an extra 30 bucks really shouldn't break the bank. Or (honestly??) cause you to go somewhere else. Tourism is pretty literally the island's only industry and it's taken a sever hit between Irma and Covid; the government is just taking advantage of the resources it has.