‘Let Stirling tax tourists’

COSLA’S call for power

Councils such as Stirling’s should be given the power to introduce a ‘tourism tax’ .

The plea to the Scottish Government comes from the local authorities pressure group CoSLA which wants more financial powers devolved to councils.

It was reported last month that council chiefs in Edinburgh were drawing up plans for the introduction of a `transient visitor levy’, also called an occupancy or bed tax, for hotel stays.

Such taxes are a feature of some European cities where visitors staying in hotels or guest houses receive an additional charge – on top of their bills – which goes to the municipal authority.

Edinburgh councillors decided last month to press for the introduction of a bed tax, claiming it would raise £29 million a year to help keep streets clean and deal with other issues arising from the influx of visitors.

The move has received the backing of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities which believes the Scottish Government needs to give councils more financial clout – and the power to impose a visitor levy would be a good start.

Speaking in Edinburgh earlier this week COSLA president Alison Evison said: “We want to strengthen local democracy and promote local decision-making, starting with giving councils the discretion to introduce a Transient Visitor Tax.

“What we are asking for today is not a national tax, but a tax that could be introduced locally if the circumstances are right and if councils in their own area think that it is the proper thing to do.

“The tourism industry should not be alarmed by this move. A Transient Visitor Tax will be a tax on visitors and not on businesses.”

Such a move would require the go-ahead from the Scottish Government which last month said it had no plans to introduce visitor levy because of concerns of the impact on tourism.

However, Green MSP Mark Ruskell believes the imposition of a bedroom tax would prove beneficial to places such as Stirling.

He said: “Stirling attracts many thousands of tourists each year and by levying a small charge, the council could raise substantial funds for improvements to infrastructure in the area, benefiting both locals and visitors.

“Stirling and our National Park are getting a reputation as top quality destinations for tourism and major sporting events.

“The money raised from the introduction of a levy could be used to enhance facilities that visitors use, attracting even more tourists.

“We’ve seen cuts to basic facilities such as toilets over the years. It’s time to invest in the visitor experience in our communities and a visitor levy is an obvious way to go.”

There was, though, less enthusiastic support from Neil Benny, Leader of the Scottish Conservative Group on Stirling Council, who said: “I’m not surprised a Green MSP has immediately called for such a charge to be imposed in the Stirling area if it was available.

“We have to be very careful about regarding our visitors as a commodity to be taxed. I want people to come here and spend their money in our shops and businesses. It might be better to let other areas impose a levy and keep Stirling as a less expensive place to visit. This is a complex issue and deserves far better consideration than our Green MSP’s knee-jerk reaction.”

To comment on this story: email john. rowbotham@trinitymirror. com, or write to the Observer at 34 Upper Craigs, Stirling, FK82DW.