Edinburgh Tourist Tax
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Over 4000 votes so far on Cornwall Live and 72% of locals are voting Yes to a tourist tax here - for all the reasons TW has mentioned, plus the cost of policing places like Newquay in the summer months.
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First of all the tax in Venice will be per person per day including day trippers, so staying at a hotel for say 4 nights will cost an extra 80€. Not peanuts. I can understand day trippers not blanching at 10€ for a one off visit.
Secondly, I do feel sorry for the SW and also parts of Scotland but once again the responsible visitor will be paying for the irresponsibility of the oiks who don't clean up after themselves and who cause trouble.
Both ray and ttda have made valid points about councils being starved of cash but also proliferate in their spending. There isn't an easy answer but I would like to see heftier fines imposed on those causing the anti social behaviour and the monies raised going to the councils affected.
£2 a day wouldn't stop me visiting somewhere but I just hate more taxes. I pay enough already.
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It's not blasé in my view, all I am trying to introduce is a sense of perspective and realism. People can of course vote with their feet and not go to these places, their choice. All I was pointing out was that in the scheme of things £2 a night person is not a lot given the cost of travelling to a place, accommodation and the likely cost of meals and coffees when out and about. But as I said previously I feel that £2 a night is too high and a lower sum would find more acceptability amongst visitors.
David
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I think the problem in Venice is the number of cruise ship that visit and disgorge 2-4000 people at a time for relatively short stays with relatively little benefit to local businesses. With the increase in cruising as a popular holiday choice there could be many ships visiting at the same time. When we go we stay at Punta Sabbioni and usually buy three or seven day ferry tickets so that we can visit all the Islands and the Lido. It wasn't that many years ago there was no such thing as Air Passenger Duty but it doesn't seemed to have stopped people travelling by air?
Local authorities are strapped for cash. We have one near us which is virtually bankrupt. Probably not the place to discuss the whys and wherefores but the alternative seems to be a massive increase in local taxation. That means local residents bear the brunt whereas a tourist tax is paid by people that only visit a place now and again so in effect are less likely to notice it.
David
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The only people likely to pay a tourist tax are those people who stay overnight within the city boundaries such as in hotels etc. Yet the day visitors, commuters and delivery people can produce their own pressures, sometimes more so than those tourists, so how do you go about taxing them? They need the infrastructure, waste removal, power supply, policing, carparks etc. just the same ss the tourist. How many people earn their living as a result of the tourist? In some parts of the UK they rely almost exclusively on the money that the tourist brings in yet those same tourists will be asked to contribute even more. I do think Venice is a separate case.
I wonder how much of an outcry there would be if Edinburgh banned tourism for say a month. Not going to happen I know but it seems that the tourist is an easy target.
Cash strapped councils are almost universal in ths UK. This is what happens when the price of everything is put in front of the value of everything.
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Well another way you will see local fund raising manifest itself is when towns and cities introduce congestion/environment vehicle charges. I think Bath is already consulting on this and they were also mentioned as a possible tourist tax place. So that would be a double whammy.
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not that tourists help the local economy at all !!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Our experience of 'tourist tax'was that it was usually, in the scheme of things, an insignificant amount normally for the two of us being less than a Euro per night.
In 2015 we stayed on a site in Austria and, as we used Camping Cheques, did not look at the tariffs so it was a surprise to find it was €2 each per night which was another 25% on the pitch 'price'.
Looking at a site we intend to use this year in France and the Austrian site shows that in France it will be €0.30 but in Austria €2.80 so quite a big difference. The site in France refers to the 'eco' tax and the Austrian site to both 'eco' and Local tax.
As mentioned Cornwall Council says it is considering a tax, and that this is being looked at by the LGA, and the suggestion is that locals are in favour, but as mentioned above I wonder how much of any tax would end up being actually spent on 'local' issues, providing of course they can decide what those things are.
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If and idiot tax was imposed on councillors and politicians that would raise more than enough to offset the damage us plundering and pillaging tourists do to their towns and cities, not to mention the tons of obnoxious fumes our cars are pumping into the air while we sit and admire the red traffic lights that adorn every street corner!
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Hi harryb, I have forwarded this discussion to my colleagues and will post a reply once I have heard back.
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I have spoken to my colleague who has advised that this is still at the consultation phase, and the Club is fully aware of the situation and has been part of the process.
No decisions have been made regarding the scale of charges, which tourism businesses will be affected or the geographic boundaries of any schemes that may be implemented. Once we have further information we will let you know.
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