'Tourist tax' Would Chancellor's plan support economy or put visitors off?

VISITORS to Bristol could soon be paying a ‘tourist tax’ similar to schemes in many European cities, if the Chancellor goes ahead with leaked proposals to give powers to regional metro mayors.

- Tristan CORK

One of the proposals tested out in the week ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget on Wednesday, is to allow local authorities to impose a levy on each night a tourist stays in a hotel.

The idea is already in place in Scotland and in many European cities where people love to visit for a weekend break, such as Barcelona, Berlin or Paris. In Edinburgh, the tourist tax will come into force on July 24 next year, with Glasgow and Aberdeen following suit. The plan is to charge people offering visitor accommodation a tax per person per night they stay. Edinburgh and Glasgow plan to charge five per cent of the cost of the night's stay, while in Aberdeen it’s going to be seven per cent.

Glasgow City Council estimate it will bring in £16million a year to the council to spend on infrastructure and events, but there are still unanswered questions - will it be passed on by hoteliers to guests, or will hoteliers take the financial hit? And most crucially, who does it apply to - only hotels, or will it include Airbnbs as well?

In Bristol, there have long been calls for more powers to tackle the growing number of homes that have been switched to be Airbnbs. It’s currently more than 2,000, with former mayor Marvin Rees describing it as a ‘wicked challenge’