Edinburgh Tourist Tax
Has anyone else heard about the proposed tourist tax to be set by Edinburgh council. Apparently it will cover all types of accommodation so will affect the Edinburgh club site. The proposed fee is £2 per head which seems very steep.
We are used to paying this type of tax in France but that is generally only a few cents
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Got any links, Harry?
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interesting isn't it? will the club site be outside this geographically) as it's not city centre, and will it be £2 per outfit or 2% of the fee, will it apply to caravan/MH?
If so that's an extra £14 per week?
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Not surprised. Been considered by a number of cities.
Even day trippers will be caught in Venice where they are intending to charge 10 euros per day!
Will be interesting to see which cities in UK introduce a charge bearing in mind some city centres, although not Edinburgh, are struggling.
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In the case of camping and caravanning sites, presumably we'd be looking at 2% of our site fees which doesn't amount to very much. More admin and aggro for site operators, though, especially CL owners.
Wonder if they’ll find a way to make wildcampers pay?
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Reading the local news and info from a friend we have in Edinburgh who we were talking about at Hogmanay,it is the residents that are in favour, not accomadation providers who say it is not very well thought out, as it is only at certain times that they are busy and its the residents which will not be affected by higher costs who want it
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It’s rather a contentious issue in the SW, WN. Our population increases tremendously in summer and puts a strain on all the services including hospitals, lifeguards, emergency and rescue services, and environmental services. No doubt utility costs are recouped by hoteliers/landlords but the water etc still has to be provided. It’s hard to imagine that holiday makers, welcome as they are, actually contribute enough to cover all those costs. Along with the amount of coastline needing environmental care, visitor numbers may be a reason we have the highest water charges in the country.
It's a difficult one for sure.
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We have been to Edinburgh at probably all months of the year over the last few years (not always from the Edinburgh site), and maybe apart from January it has always been busy in the centre so it is not like a seasonal matter as in some places like TW said?
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I think the Isle of Skye is looking at something similar.
I don't mind paying a tourist tax as long as its reasonable and its used to help the environment I'm in, like for the Isle of Skye to provide more and better parking at the beauty spots, to upgrade the roads etc.
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I read this in the Daily Telegraph and it said £2 per head. That would make things expensive.
The BBC report states that tourism brings in £1.8bn to the city and now they want more.
I always find that the phrase 'Public Consultation' always omits the people that matter most. In this case, the tourist
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TW, I do have sympathy with you as we, living here in North Wales, have been charged extra on our water bills specifically for tourists! However I wonder how the local economy would look without any tourists but agree that there special areas that need extra income to cope, such as Venice that I mentioned earlier as well as the SW. In addition quite a bit of the footfall is from day trippers so how do you charge them as they are impacting the environment just as much as stayers.
A tough one.
As a member of a touring organisation I find it strange that our management seem reticent in extolling the spending power of this club on local communities. Maybe we would have a better press if locals could see how much of a benefit having a site nearby is. Then again maybe that might be best discussed on a separate thread.
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At least you don't have to go in. A few years ago we had a Christmas craft fair locally. Well supported by the public. The following year there was a £1.00 per person, including children, entrance fee. It was poorly attended. My brother ran one of the stalls and his takings were vastly different.
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Don’t forget caravan and MH shows charging an arm and leg to let you in so you can spend mega bucks on an overhyped leaky new LV. I’ve always thought that was a cheek.
However, that's rather different from a tourist tax designed to recoup costs incurred by a location where services are stretched by the arrival of tourists.
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