Taxtourists

I was delighted to read the report that the SNP are planning to introduce a tourist tax if they win control in Edinburgh in next month’s local authority elections. This is long overdue.

I simply cannot understand why the introduction of such a tax has been delayed for so long. My wife and I have been fortunate enough over the past few years to have visited several European countries. In addition, we have been making regular trips to Japan to visit our two sons, who live and work in Tokyo. It is standard practice in all of the countries that we have visited to have a local “bed tax” added on to your hotel bill.

On a recent visit to Belgium a local tax of €2.14 per person per night was added to our bill. With over 12 million visitor nights per year in Edinburgh, such a modest charge would raise a considerable sum for the city.

It has been claimed that such a tax would discourage tourists from coming to Edinburgh. I just simply cannot accept this as an argument. The price of a cup of coffee is not going to discourage visitors to our city. The addition of such a bed tax on our overseas hotel bills has never been seen by us as a deterrent. Visitors will continue to flock to Scotland in very large numbers.

At a time when public services have been under such strain and faced with the grim prospect of yet more austerity to come, surely now is the time to add to the funds available to our local authorities in a way that does not add to the burdens already being carried by taxpayers in Scotland.

ERIC MELVIN Edinburgh