Full facts wanted on visitor windfall
THE full figures of any tourism windfall already received by local authorities and how it is spent need to be known as part of any debate over a controversial tourism tax.
That is the message from Jim Jones, chief executive of North Wales Tourism, as the sector continues to voice concerns over the potential impact of any new tax on visitors.
Welsh Government is consulting on giving local authorities the power to impose a levy on overnight stays.
Councils already receive extra funds to reflect the additional strain visitors place on infrastructure and services. It is part of the £200m enhanced population grant, of which around 13% is related to tourism, with the payments based on the number of visitors to a county.
Mr Jones said it is important there is full disclosure on the extra grants already received. A previous report (2016/17) showed enhanced population grants of £10m to Gwynedd, £5m to Anglesey, £9m to Conwy £7m to Denbighshire.
Conwy and Denbighshire described it as a “small additional funding” that is used in the general funding of the Council.
Gwynedd Council estimated their allocation at
spokesperson said:
(£2.5m) does not take into account the huge increase in tourism numbers that Gwynedd has seen over the past year with far more people choosing to visit for holidays and day trips.”
Anglesey council said its award was in the region of £300,000.
It added: “This funding is vital to support various council services which are put under additional pressure as the island’s population more than doubles during the summer months.”
Mr Jones said: “The imposition of a tourism tax would be a bad idea at any time but to consider that now would be an absolute disaster.
“Before any proposed consultation is undertaken on the unpopular tourism tax, we need local authorities and Welsh Government to have an open and transparent dialogue with the sector.
“For starters, we need to know what the enhanced population grant received by local authorities is currently being used for.”