Edinburgh's plan for tax on tourists is 'dead in the water'

Published on Tuesday 13 May 2008 01:09

CONTROVERSIAL plans to introduce a bed-tax system for visitors to Scotland's capital are "dead in the water", The Scotsman has learned.

Hoteliers in Edinburgh have vetoed plans to add an additional charge, of about 2 per cent, to bills to help raise extra cash for major tourism initiatives.

The cash would have been ringfenced to help pay for festivals, events and marketing ventures.

However, leading operators have voted to ditch the idea, amid warnings that its introduction might prove disastrous to the city's reputation and damage international efforts to lure visitors to the UK.

The City of Edinburgh Council and several leading industry figures have backed the idea of a visitor levy for the city in an attempt to help the capital compete with major rivals around the world.

Such schemes have been a success in Vancouver, San Francisco, Vienna and Paris, but none has yet been introduced in the UK.

The Edinburgh Principal Hotels Association (EPHA), which represents the main hotels in the capital, had led efforts to examine the demand for the scheme in the capital and look at how it would work.

Visitors to hotels would have an additional charge, of about 2 per cent, added to their bills. However, the industry is divided over the idea, amid fears that the cash raised would lead to the city council slashing investment in tourism initiatives.

But the group last night admitted it had been "killed off" by the strength of opposition in the sector.

The Scotsman revealed last month that one of Britain's leading tourism figures had launched an outspoken attack on the hotel tax plans.

And news of their demise coincided with a visit to the city yesterday by Bob Cotton, the chief executive of the British Hospitality Association.

He said: "An additional form of taxation is the last thing the tourism industry needs at the moment. This idea should have been killed off years ago."

Peter Dornom, chair of the EPHA, said: "Our members have now delivered a clear message that they are against the introduction of a levy system or hotel tax, however it is described.

"As far as we're concerned, this scheme is now dead in the water now. I can't see how it can go on from here when it has no real support in the industry."

Tom Buchanan, the city council's economic development leader and a strong advocate of the hotel tax, said: "The new administration is looking at all methods of financing and enhancing the tourism offering in the city. We need to look at imaginative ways to fund the sector and ensure the private sector also plays a part."

Members of the Edinburgh Tourism Action Group had been sharply divided over the prospect of a hotel tax scheme being introduced.

One said last night: "We should have been speaking out against this long before now. An incredible amount of time and money has been spent on something that should never have been able to get off the ground."