Edinburgh (TAN): Scotland’s capital Edinburgh could impose a tourist tax on visitors, thus becoming the first city in the United Kingdom to do so.
According to the Edinburgh government website, the Transient Visitor Levy (TVL), or the tax, will be charged along with the “accommodation bill either at the time of booking or when checking out.”
The intention for the tax is to raise money to cover the costs of overtourism caused by millions of visitors who throng the city every year.
Tax structure
The fee proposes GBP2 per room per night for the first week of stay for all kinds of accommodation.
The website explained: “A TVL or tourist tax is defined as an additional charge on visitors staying overnight in paid accommodation.”
However, tourists putting up at campsites would not be charged anything. Also, visitors staying in the city longer than a week would not have to pay more than GBP14.
The tax is estimated to raise between GBP11.6 million and GBP14.6 million per year in Edinburgh, media reports said.
Edinburgh council in favour of tourist tax
The TVL has been supported by the city council because they think it is “necessary and an appropriate way to secure future investment in the tourism industry and, in order to support the council to manage the impact of that success upon our services.”
The TVL will, however, be implemented only after the Scottish Parliament has passed the bill.
Joining the league of other cities
If the bill is passed, Edinburgh would join several other destinations that have recently levied taxes on visitors. While Venice introduced a USD11 per person tax for all visitors, including overnight guests, it also went a step forward to separate residents from tourists to give Venetians a respite from the crowds.
[CLICK HERE to read more about tourism tax in Venice]
Croatia’s Dubrovnik last year announced that it would limit the number of cruise ships allowed to dock in order to restrict visitor numbers.
