A coalition of mayors from throughout England are urging the federal government to permit native authorities to usher in a Barcelona-style customer levy to generate revenue from tourism.
The group, led by the Liverpool metropolis area mayor, Steve Rotheram, argues {that a} customer levy would unlock very important funding for tourism and cultural infrastructure, empower regional progress and cut back dependence on central authorities funding.
The letter to the tradition secretary, Lisa Nandy, and the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has been co-signed by the Larger Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham; the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan; the north-east mayor, Kim McGuinness; Richard Parker, the mayor of the West Midlands; and the West Yorkshire mayor, Tracy Brabin.
They are saying provisions may very well be made within the forthcoming English devolution invoice, or in a selected finance invoice, to provide native authorities the liberty to design and introduce a domestically administered customer levy.
It might imply cities they characterize, together with Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Birmingham and London, may introduce costs to reap direct advantages from tourism.
Many European cities have comparable levies in place, together with Venice, Lisbon and Amsterdam, as do Spain’s Balearic Islands.
Within the Liverpool metropolis area, which hosts greater than 60 million guests yearly, a customer levy may increase almost £11m a 12 months, the mayors mentioned. The town hosted Eurovision in 2023, which generated £54m in direct financial influence.
If a £1- to £5-a-night levy have been launched in Larger Manchester, it may increase between £8m and £40m a 12 months, which may go in the direction of infrastructure initiatives such because the regeneration of Previous Trafford or airport improvement, the mayors mentioned.
The mayors mentioned funds raised via a customer levy could be ringfenced for native reinvestment, and mentioned the federal government wanted to behave urgently, as devolved governments in Scotland and Wales are shifting forward with their very own tourism levies, leaving English areas liable to falling behind.
“The Liverpool metropolis area is a world icon of creativity, tradition and character – attracting greater than 60 million guests yearly and supporting a £6.25bn customer financial system,” Rotheram mentioned. “That’s one thing to be extremely happy with – however it additionally comes with pressures on our infrastructure and companies.
“A small cost on in a single day stays – the type most of us wouldn’t suppose twice about when travelling overseas – would give us the ability to reinvest immediately into the issues that make our space so particular.”
Burnham added: “At a time when nationwide assets are below actual stress, a modest customer levy – one thing all of us pay in different elements of Europe – gives a good and sustainable method to help our native companies.”
McGuinness mentioned: “An area tourism tax is so mainstream throughout the remainder of the world you barely discover it, so it shouldn’t be a giant step right here within the UK.”
Final 12 months, a report from the landscape charity Friends of the Lake District made an analogous name. The organisation’s chief govt, Mike Hill, mentioned: “In many of the locations world wide that we’ve checked out which have introduced in some type of tourism levy, tourism numbers have truly elevated, as a result of the place will get higher.”
