Local politician defends tourism tax plans – ‘Give ratepayers a say,’ argues Joyce

Senedd Member Joyce Watson has urged the Welsh Government to consult ‘local ratepayers’ on proposals for a tourism tax.

First Minister Mark Drakeford recently announced that his government will explore the introduction of a levy on visitors. He suggested it could raise funds for local authorities to spend on things that attract holidaymakers.

At the Senedd on Tuesday (22 June), the Labour Mid and West Wales representative argued that people living in Wales’ tourist hotspots should be able to ask visitors to pay ‘just a little extra’ towards local services.

Mrs Watson asked the First Minister:

“Will you make sure that any consultation on a proposed tourism levy will take on board the views of local ratepayers in our tourist hotspots, as well as the brilliant businesses that serve those visitors?

“Because they’re the ones who bear the brunt of council budget constraints and pay for things like toilets, rubbish collection and car parks – and I think it’s only fair that they should be able to ask those who can afford to holiday in our beautiful region to pay just a little extra.”

The Welsh Conservatives have criticised the plans, claiming it will put-off holidaymakers and damage the tourism sector.

However, Mrs Watson highlighted the fact that Welsh Government support for the industry during the pandemic has been more generous than in England – businesses in Wales have received £400 million more in coronavirus support than they would have had had they been based across the border.

In response, Mr Drakeford explained that local councils would choose whether or not to charge the levy, based on local circumstances and views. He said:

“(Joyce Watson) is right, of course, that an enormous amount of help has already been provided to businesses here in Wales.

“When it comes to the tourism levy…the discussion we intend to have is one about a local power for local authorities to raise a levy where they choose to do so and think that would be right for their local circumstances.

“Where Joyce Watson is undoubtedly true is that the idea is a popular one amongst those indigenous populations who currently have to bear the full costs of all the services that are provided in their areas, even when those populations rise very considerably during a holiday season.

“The purpose of a levy, were there to be a local authority that wished to use it, in my mind, is to make sure that visitors make a small contribution to the investment that is needed to keep the places that they visit thriving, and to have all those facilities—the car parks, the toilets and everything else that, if you visit somewhere, you hope to find. Making a small contribution to it seems to me to be an investment in the future success of those businesses and of those localities, and to do it in a way that is fair, where the costs involved are shared between people who live there permanently and people who are making a visit to those fantastic places we have here in Wales.”

In 2019, Edinburgh was the first city in the UK to announce it would implement a tourist tax of £2 per room per night. The levy’s introduction has been postponed due to coronavirus.