The United Kingdom government has said it will allow city mayors to set room night levies or tourism taxes.
This is a manifesto pledge that it seems remains in favor as the Kier Starmer premiership morphed into the Andy Burnham one.
The country’s hotel industry, not surprisingly, is against the idea, but I imagine they — as I underlined in a previous blog — probably have since day one been resigned to their imposition.
As I mused, they will happen because the legislation is there to allow them to happen.
The Guardian newspaper focused on the fact that regional U.K. leaders celebrated the news, stating it will give them a “vital revenue stream at a time when local government is facing a funding crisis,” while also saying the hotel industry was outraged.
The BBC, meanwhile, said regional leaders who represent the ruling Labour Party claimed they would cap the tax at 5%, in answer to hospitality group’s warnings that the move would lead to job losses.
London is among those cities.
English cities Liverpool and Manchester now have a rooms tax, set at 2% in the former and 1% in the latter.
Scottish capital Edinburgh already charges 5%, capped at five days, and the whole country of Wales next year will impose a £1.30 ($1.76) per night levy.
The bipartisan All-Party Parliamentary Group for Hospitality & Tourism said in a statement that the evidence the government received in the window for comment might suggest the “levy could reduce tourism spending, investment and employment, while increasing costs for holidaymakers [and will have a notable impact] on coastal and rural destinations, where hospitality and tourism play a critical role in supporting jobs and local economies.”
The levy is not yet a done deal anywhere apart from the cities mentioned above, and some mayors might choose not to impose one.
A cynic would say that most would not be able to resist the lure of easy cash paid for by, in the most part, nonresidents.
Allen Simpson, CEO, UKHospitality, was a little more blunt with his language, saying, “the government should think carefully about the impact this levy could have on families, the cost of living, communities and employment opportunities, especially for young people, before devolving these powers to mayoral authorities. … There is an urgent need to consider the unintended consequences of a visitor levy and the practical recommendations set out in this report to mitigate its impact.”
Guests who chose to come to a place often do not care about a small percentage increase, but it is not in question that prices are seeping upwards, and it is also no secret that hoteliers are fed up with the assumption that their pockets are large enough to absorb every additional costs, or the pockets of their guests can.
There will be more bickering on this subject in the weeks up to the Oct. 28 budget, where the full green light might be given.
The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinions of CoStar News or CoStar Group and its affiliated companies. Bloggers published on this site are given the freedom to express views that may be controversial, but our goal is to provoke thought and constructive discussion within our reader community. Please feel free to contact an editor with any questions or concern.