Festival ticket tax plan to ease burden on city

COUNCIL leaders in Edinburgh want festival-goers to pay more for their tickets to help ease the burden on the taxpayer for the city’s hosting of major events.

The idea is the latest to be touted under long-held plans for a “festival tax” or “tourist” tax, which the city council wants to see introduced.

Senior councillors believe money added on to ticket prices, hotel bills and meals in restaurants could be ring-fenced for the authority, which currently ploughs more than £4 million into events such as the Edinburgh International Festival, the Fringe and the capital’s Hogmanay celebrations.

However, such a move has already been ruled out by Edinburgh’s new marketing boss, while festival promoters and hoteliers are fiercely opposed to measures they believe may put off potential visitors.

The council’s plans to introduce a “bed tax”, first floated more than ten years ago, were dealt a blow five years ago when the Scottish Government ruled out supporting such a scheme.

But that has not deterred the council from exploring alternatives, such as a voluntary scheme for festival-goers, or a levy, similar to the one paid by firms inside the capital’s “business improvement district,” which covers Princes Street and George Street.

Senior figures at the authority are frustrated that the council sees little benefit from the £261m the city’s 12 major festivals are believed to generate for the economy every year.

The council has revived plans for a festival tax just weeks after the new chief executive of Marketing Edinburgh, a firm set up by the council to promote the city around the world, warned there was no appetite for similar schemes.

But council leader Jenny Dawe said: “I have heard the argument made for putting a very small percentage on to festival tickets and that could even be done on a voluntary basis. If people buy online, for example, there could be a box to tick to put in a small percentage. If people know that it will go towards improving venues there is generally no objection.

“Given the public sector is under increasing pressure with reduced budgets and increasing demand, it is worth looking at different ways we can raise money for things like the cultural sector.”

However William Burdett-Coutts, artistic director of Fringe promoters Assembly Theatre, believes a hotel tax works well in some cities but said Edinburgh room prices were already high so it may put people off.

He said: “I think it is insane if they try to put this on to Fringe venues because there is just not the money for it.

“The Fringe is very fragile and, while people at the council might think that people are making loads of money, it is not actually like that and this would be very dangerous.”

Colin Paton, chairman of the Edinburgh Hotels Association, said: “This is a knee-jerk reaction to the irresponsible attitude to finance of the SNP in the Scottish Parliament and is just a cash grab.

“The council does not fill hotels it is the free market capitalist businesses that fills hotels. We will resist extremely heavily the hotel sector being the milch cow of tourism.”