Edinburgh Tourist Tax
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I would have no objection, within reason, to a tourist tax providing the money was spent on what those tourist required. Some of that may well go towards the cost of rubbish collections or it might be providing extra local transport or even public toilets. In all cases it would be equally beneficial to both residents and tourists alike.
David
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Looks like it could be others too. BBC
Link doesn't work - bad request. Will retry
BBC News - Cash-strapped councils look for tourist tax powers http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46838307
Still doesn't work, but you can copy and paste.
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I have read on another forum, Cruise holidays, that a tourist tax is to be introduced in Amsterdam. Immediately two very large cruise lines have fired off a broadside and pulled out of visiting there.
Food for thought. The tourist tax might frighten off the tourists
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Cornwall had the tax for years, it is called car parking fee's.👍
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And worth every penny, my ansum!
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You have to learn to live and think like a local to enjoy some places and not be a burden. Some folks nowadays have the money to travel, but take all their idiocy and bad manners away with them...........drink too much, sit in the hot sun too long, let children wander away unwatched on beaches, don’t respect the beauty and uniqueness of a place and trash it with litter and dog fouling. The list is endless. And adds to cash squeezed local authorities.
But I don’t trust any form of council, local, regional or national to use the funds raised by a tax wisely and for the good of all. It doesn’t happen with most taxes, why will this be any different?
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But I don’t trust any form of council, local, regional or national to use the funds raised by a tax wisely and for the good of all. It doesn’t happen with most taxes, why will this be any different?
That would depend on the framing of any legislation to implement such a scheme. It seems that many local authorities are struggling to maintain many local services. The point being that when local services suffer so does the experience of a visitor. That might be as simple as providing a public toilet! Personally I would suggest a much lower amount per night, perhaps in the region of 50p per person. Whilst that seems quite low it all adds up and could make a substantial difference to local finances.
David
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some interesting statistics, I've found on http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/20247/edinburgh_by_numbers/1012/edinburgh_by_numbers
Number of Nights; domestic 6.99 million, overeas 8.64 million, making a total of 15.63 million
which 41% stayed in a hotel/B&B, and only 4% caravan/camping (it did not mention MHs but I assume they was included)
Now from https://www.visitscotland.org/research-insights/regions/edinburgh-lothians
Hotels were 50% full in January and 91% full in August with an average of 74% occupancy. Caravan& camping sites had an average of 35%, with peak of 74%
At £2 a head at 16.63 million nights of which only would be got from the 41% in a hotel and even if that is only per room so halved and taking the occupancy rate into account, that is an awful lot of money generated.
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I agree with what you are saying about struggling LAs, but that’s my point. It’s the methods used in terms of making sure that funds raised go to where they are needed, and that the maximum raised is used wisely, rather than gobbled up by administrative and tendering processes, something that all levels of our governance excel at doing.
The amount of money wasted was bad when I worked in LA, it’s a thousand times worse now, with little or no accountability. If I could see that my taxes for spending time in Penzance were used for the good of Penzance generally, let’s say for public toilets, I would contribute. But I know it won’t be, become that’s how all aspects of our taxation are used. It’s why we are in the mess we are in now, with everywhere, and everything strapped for cash. The money is there, but glory projects, ill thought out plans, poorly monitored tendering processes, you name it get in the way. This country wastes billions of pounds in such ways.
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My feeling is that a £2 per room tax will make very little difference to hotels where an extra £2 will make very little difference to an already substantial price. If you are paying over £100 a night then £2 is insignificant although on the cheapest ones it just might slow things down a bit.
At the cheaper end of the market like camp sites where £2 is a greater proportion of the total cost it might be a problem and drive a few elsewhere. Sites just outside the city boundary may find themselves more competitive or just add the tax value to make more money.
Time will tell, but I think because places abroad manage it successfully then it is bound to come in the tourist traps over here. It is difficult to see cash strapped councils missing out but it will mean a big advantage for places like Edinburgh in the ability to charge it. They do need to be careful though as if they overdo it then it may do far more harm than good.
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Our experience abroad, mainly in Germany, has been that only certain areas have a tourist tax and that it is levied only in the peak seasons.
In Germany it is usually between 40 eurocents and 1 Euro, so a lot less than £2. At one site in Switzerland it was 5 euros per adult per night, which made a huge difference to the site fee, so we moved on rather smartly.
IMO, 50p on site fees would be acceptable in Edinburgh, £2 would be enough to put people off. The site fees are already pretty high.
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As Corners posted the £2 per night would generate (with the tourist figures supplied)a huge amount, so either they have not told the whole truth of what the money is to be used for,,or it is an amount that the LA have used as a starting point and will,keep trying a lower rate until they find less resistance from the tourist industry rather than the local yokals
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That would depend on the framing of any legislation to implement such a scheme. It seems that many local authorities are struggling to maintain many local services.
It doesn't matter how you cut it. Ring fence to toilets, litter clearance, parks and garden and community police and all it will do is reduce burden on LA's expenditure leaving more in the kitty.
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Road improvement in Skye is an interesting one - a friend of ours used to be involved in studying road design. The unsurprising conclusion was that when you made roads bigger and better, to alleviate a problem, more people arrived on the bigger and better roads, until you had just as much of an overcrowding problem but with even more people, so you made bigger and better roads...
Since part of the already overcrowded Skye's appeal to the tourist industry which sustains so much of it, is that it is so remote, and has idiosyncratic roads, I hope they're factoring this into their planning.
It's the danger with us tourists, isn't it? We flock to find the unspoilt places, and by so doing, spoil them.
And yes, we're planning to visit the Hebrides in April/May plus caravan ourselves, so are part of the problem!0 -
The tax is just another good reason for not visiting Edinburgh.
Will there be a refund for the poor folk who have to go and stay there on business?
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I think Skye is probably different. It is quite remote and you have to be determined to go there. Better roads are unlikely to increase numbers greatly as it is too far from anywhere to be further overrun. At the moment there is a well publicised problem more with parking than the roads and people still go.
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Tourist Tax, a chicken that lays golden eggs, but is easily scared away....ask Egypt. We hate big cities anyway, and wouldnt go to Skye in a peak season, and a £2 tax would mean i never go to Edinburgh. Not to stay anyway. It is central governments reduction of passing on general taxation that is causing these ' cunning plans' by local councils to recoup funds.....destroying town centers by overcharging motorists, Tourist tax...etc. another possible destination struck off of the list.
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Given that I am unlikely to visit Edinburgh on a regular basis I can't see any tourist tax being likely to prevent me from going there as my visits would be pretty irregular. The same would be true of any other places. I understand that Bath are thinking along the same lines. It is rumoured that Venice may start charging visitors €10 a time to visit. As we both love Venice it would not stop us visiting there. The reality is that the costs involved in getting to either Edinburgh or Venice so outweigh the modest cost of a visitor tax its not really worth taking into account in the scheme of things?
David
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