Businesses opposed to Edinburgh tourist tax

A clear majority of small businesses in Edinburgh are opposed to the intro - duction of a tourist tax, a new survey claims today.

The Federation of Small Businesses ( FSB) asked its members in the Scottish capital for their views on the idea of a visitor levy and 76 per cent said they were against with 24 per cent in favour.

The figures suggest a hardening of opposition among FSB members since a similar survey two years ago that found 61 per cent were against the proposal.

Janet Torley, FS Bare a leader for the East of Scotland, said: “This is a wakeup call for the City of Edinburgh Council, signalling that its plans to introduce a tourism tax in the city are unwanted and potentially damaging.

“Despite the caution which the Scottish Gover nm en th as urged over this tax, the city council has pressed ahead with the development of a ‘ business case’ for its introduction. Now it is clear that the over whelming opinion of local businesses is ‘ No’.

“Edinburgh is at the very heart of Scotland’ s tourist industry. If we tax tourists out of Edinburgh, then we risk taxing them out of Scotland.”

A total of 124 FSB members out of 1,700 responded to the survey.

Almost 80 percent of them were tourism- related firms.