The taxing issue to charge city visitors

THERE were two titanic clashes in Manchester on Wednesday night.

- By ETHAN DAVIES

City took on Dortmund at the Etihad, and next door Busted battled it out with McFly at Coop Live, bringing in tens of thousands of visitors.

The UK’s largest indoor arena, Coop Live has been cited as one of the main reasons why Manchester's footfall surged by nine per cent from summer 2023 to July this year, as tourists flock in for a once-in-a-lifetime show, football match, or just to soak up the city’s ‘buzz’

That all puts pressure on services like public transport and someone needs to pay for that.

According to Andy Burnham and a new report by a thinktank, Greater Manchester should tax tourists to help make ends meet.

“I do not believe, if we need to raise more money for services in the city, we go first to people living here or businesses here,” the mayor told BBC Radio Manchester this week.

“I think it’s fair because of the extra transport we have to put on there's a contribution from people visiting. That's where I would go first. I would ask the government to let us have a tourist levy.

“We have the Euros in 2028. If that [tax] was in place we could make that more successful. “