New tourist tax for Edinburgh

London – Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh, is to become the first British city to introduce a tourist tax to try to better manage the impact of swelling visitor numbers and booming hotel occupancy.

Edinburgh had 1.75 million foreign visitors on average annually between 2015 and 2017, making it the second-most visited in Britain after London.

Hotel occupancy was the highest among all UK cities in 2017, at an average of 83.7%.

Funds raised by the £2 (about R35) per room per night tax will be used “to improve facilities and better manage the city”. – Reuters