City tourist tax

I trust no one will take seriously the article “Businesses opposed to Edinburgh tourist tax” (The Scotsman, 18 May) or the survey on which it was based, claiming that “a clear majority of small businesses in Edinburgh are opposed to the introduction of a tourist tax”.

This was an opt-in survey rather than representative sample, and of 1,700 Federation of Small Business members, only 124 (7.29 per cent) chose to participate. Of these, 94 – 5.5 per cent of the membership – claimed to be opposed to a tourist tax.

I have just returned from a break on the Amalfi coast in Italy, where hotels in Amalfi, Positano and Sorrento routinely charged €3 per person per night for what they insistently called a city tax, and there was clearly no shortage of visitors in any of these towns.

This is significantly more than the levels likely to be considered in Edinburgh and had no material effect on visitor numbers, as would almost certainly be the case with Edinburgh too.

The fact that it is called a city tax is also important in reflecting the true nature of the charge – a contribution from those who come to enjoy and benefit from the city’s infrastructure to its maintenance rather than leaving a cashstrapped council and Edinburgh’s residents to subsidise the many amenities from which they benefit.

It is not at all unreasonable that all who stay in Edinburgh, whether permanently or temporarily, should contribute to the upkeep of the city, and I hope that councillors will have the courage to implement this city tax.

CHRIS EYNON Bramdean Rise, Edinburgh