Tourism boss says new holiday tax ‘could work’ – but calls for caution

THE chief executive of hospitality trade body Visit Cornwall has voiced cautious support for a tax on tourists in Cornwall and neighbouring Devon, another visitor hotspot, having previously rejected the idea.

Malcolm Bell said he thought such a charge “could work” but warned against rushing any decision, to ensure the industry didn’t suffer and the money raised was invested wisely.

Back in 2019 he dismissed the concept, citing high administration costs and resistance from businesses and visitors, and instead advocated financial support through a 10% VAT rebate.

Mr Bell, who can trace his Cornish roots back to the 1700s, said if there were to be a tourism tax then it should be fairly applied throughout the region: “There’s no point in Devon not having one and us having one.”

Discussions about the idea were already under way with the Cornwall Community Foundation, the National Landscapes team (previously the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and those in charge of the South West Coast Path, he said, “but even if we end up avoiding the tourism tax we should look at why people are calling for one”.

The UK was already among Europe’s most heavily taxed countries, he said – its VAT rate of 20% compared to 5.5% in France, for example – and tax made up 30% of what visitors spent.

“Given the national finances, we see the need to pay more into defence, the NHS, social services – we have to be realistic,” he acknowleged, but insisted: “We need some distribution of the money that already goes to His Majesty’s Treasury to instead go back into local levels.”

With some four million holiday visits and 12 million day visits to Cornwall annually, said Mr Bell, a tourism tax could help meet the costs of maintaining the environment and communities visitors clearly valued. “The preference would be if the levy is well developed with the community and businesses, where visitors are comfortable to pay a very small amount to go back into Cornwall ... but if it’s just another levy added on to VAT and taxes that’s probably not what people want to see.”

One worry, he said, was that increased revenue from a tourist tax might be used by the government as an excuse to reduce its share of local expenditure. Another was the potential cost of such a scheme: “How much of it’s going to go on administration?”

The type of scheme introduced in Manchester from April 1 last year wouldn’t be suitable in the South West, he said: “Manchester have introduced a charge per night, but it’s Business Improvement District legislation [aimed exclusively at urban centres].

“We have self-catering and holiday parks, whereas they have hotels,

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We might conclude the tax isn’t appropriate and the cost of the implementation itself is too much. There’s a lot to consider

so their model doesn’t work here”.

Nor did Cornwall Council and the government seem keen on the idea of a tourist tax in the South West: “Perhaps it could work down here but a huge consideration should be what can it give our community, its products and our environment.

“We might conclude the tax isn’t appropriate and the cost of the implementation itself is too much. There’s a lot to consider.”

6Porthmeor beach in St Ives is one of the many popular visitor destinations. Below, Malcolm Bell Greg Martin