Edinburgh (TAN): A member of the Scottish Parliament is calling for tourist tax in the Perth and Kinross council of Scotland to bolster the council’s economy.
This comes after a similar tax in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh getting the authorities’ nod.
Such a tax could reportedly mean more than GBP 2 million a year for public services in Perth and Kinross, one among 32 council areas of Scotland.
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Member of the Scottish Parliament for Mid Scotland and Fife Mark Ruskell said a GBP 1-a-night visitor levy would bring at least GBP 2.2 million for the local authority, which is facing cuts of more than GBP 20 million in the next financial year in Scotland’s budget.
However, Scottish Tourism Alliance chairman Stephen Leckie is fiercely opposed to a tourism tax being levied. Leckie likened the tax to “killing the goose that laid the golden egg”.
Edinburgh City Council in Scotland last week became the first local authority to agree to implement the tax. Ruskell said Perth and Kinross Council should follow suit.
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“This is much-needed funding that could be reinvested in services for both local people and visitors alike, things like public toilets, safe cycle routes and better rural public transport. Councils will be able to decide the exact details and rates at which to set the levy, so I hope Perth and Kinross gets the ball rolling right away and makes sure that communities don’t miss out on this tourism windfall,” Ruskell told the Evening Telegraph.
A spokesman for Perth and Kinross Council, however, said there was no agreement as yet to introduce a tourism tax in Perth and Kinross.
