Research into 'tourist tax' in Harrogate is taking place as UK starts to adopt visitor levy idea

With famous visitor destinations abroad such as Venice now opting for a ‘tourist tax’ and protests taking place in Spain against ‘over tourism’, the news from Edinburgh shows charges for visitors may be on their way to the UK, too.

Manchester already has The Manchester City Visitor Charge which sees a fee of £1 plus VAT per room or unit per night added to the final bill for guests staying in paid accommodation.

Councillors in Edinburgh recently voted for the introduction of a tourist tax aimed at raising as much as £50 million annually.

If the plan goes ahead, the city will become the first in Scotland to charge a transient visitor levy (TVL) on stays, with profits used to fund improvements to the capital.

Now it seems the idea is gaining some traction in Harrogate.

Writing in his regular column for the Harrogate Advertiser, Simon Cotton, Managing Director of the HRH Group which that owns some of the best loved hotels, restaurants and pubs in Harrogate, revealed that, although it is far from a situation where anything has been decided, there are discussions in the town about it for good business reasons.

But the aim, however, added Mr Cotton, is to utilise the new funding stream to attract more visitors in an increasingly competitive world.

He said: “There’s a fast growing number of high profile destinations abroad which are introducing a tourism tax to try and actually reduce the number of visitors due to overcrowding at these popular spots, with Venice leading the way.

"A tourism tax is something that is fast coming to the UK, but not in an attempt to curb the number of visitors, quite the opposite.

"A local accommodation tax on tourists staying in hotels is starting to be introduced across UK cities and large tourist towns in a way to help create a marketing budget to promote the destination further.

"In an increasingly competitive digital world of marketing, bigger budgets are needed to make your destination stand out and Harrogate, as a relatively small town, tries to compete with some pretty big destinations.

"As such, research is currently ongoing about whether this would be a good or bad thing for our town.”

"Such a move in Harrogate might prove controversial but leading hotelier Mr Cotton said nothing has been decided.

"Talking tax is often a taxing subject but further research will look at this interesting proposition to further enhance the fantastic hospitality and tourism offering our great town has.

"There are always two sides to every argument but asking tourists to pay a very small levy to help promote future visitors may reduce the burden on local council and private sector budgets and help the town continue to thrive in this highly important economic sector to our town.”

In Edinburgh, opponents of a tourist tax claimed it would deter visitors to the city and risks harming Edinburgh’s appeal as a tourist destination.

If the charge is introduced in Edinburgh’s capital after public consultation, it would cover hotels, B&Bs, self-catering accommodation and any rooms and properties let online, including AirBnB.