Council hoping to bring in £1 a night tourist tax

EDINBURGH has delivered a clear signal that it wants to be the first city in the UK to introduce a “tourist tax” for visitors who stay in the city.

The council would follow tourism hotspots such as Venice, Paris and Berlin who charge visitors an overnight levy.

Edinburgh has long campaigned for powers to introduce the tax, known as the Transient Visitor Levy (TVL), though it is unpopular with members of the hospitality industry.

Now new research compiled by Edinburgh City Council says that the TVL would not deter tourists from visiting the capital.

A charge of £1 a night per visitor could result in an extra £11 million a year in income, however this could reach up to £29m depending on the way the tax is imposed, the report said.

The research, which examines the Edinburgh accommodation sector, also looks at the policy context and examples of a similar TVL in other cities.

It said: “Edinburgh would remain globally competitive in terms of taxation even if a TVL is adopted when compared with the overall taxation prevalent in other cities such as Venice, Rome, Budapest and Florence.”

The council said that the findings would be debated by councillors at a meeting on Thursday ahead of a detailed proposal to be presented to Holyrood later this year.

Currently local authorities do not have the power to introduce a tourist tax and establishing such a power would require an act of the Scottish Parliament.

Edinburgh Council Leader, Adam Mcvey, said it was important to point that this was not a tax on business, “rather a small contribution by tourists towards the services they use during their stay”.

He said: “This research demonstrates that not only is a TVL unlikely to adversely affect Edinburgh’s hotel industry, but that handled correctly, it can help to secure the ongoing sustainability and health of tourism in the city.”

John Donnelly, chief executive of Marketing Edinburgh has also backed the concept.

However members of the hospitality industry voiced their concerns with the Federation of Small Businesses saying businesses in the city opposed a levy.

And Ukhospitality, formerly the British Hospitality Association, said that the levy had the potential to discourage visitors, especially international travellers who are known to be highly price-sensitive.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said that it had “no plans to introduce visitor levy on the tourism sector.

“It is already subject to the second highest VAT rates in Europe by the UK Government.”