'Quite keen': Tracy Brabin makes statement on West Yorkshire overnight visitor levy
GoCompare says that mirroring Edinburgh’s 5 per cent overnight charge would add £138 to a week-long family-of-four staycation.
Mayor Tracy Brabin has said she is “keen” on bringing in an overnight visitor levy, to “make sure that West Yorkshire gets the benefit of an uplift in tourism”.
Last year, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that mayors would get the powers to introduce European-style tourism taxes on travellers staying overnight.
It would bring England into line with Wales and Scotland, which already has levies in places like Edinburgh.
Labour said it would legislate for this as part of last month’s King’s Speech, saying that the Overnight Visitor Levy Bill “is the first step in a new era of fiscal devolution”.
However, the potential tax has proved hugely controversial, with hospitality businesses saying it will further damage the sector that has been weighed down by rises to the minimum wage and national insurance contributions.
GoCompare says that mirroring Edinburgh’s 5 per cent charge would add £138 to a week-long family-of-four staycation.
The levy has split Yorkshire’s four mayors, with York and North Yorkshire’s David Skaith and Ms Brabin appearing likely to bring it in.
South Yorkshire’s Oliver Coppard and Hull and East Yorkshire’s Luke Campbell appear to be moving against the visitor levy.
Ms Brabin said her combined authority were currently having “consensus conversations” about how it could be introduced.
“When you go abroad everybody pays it without batting an eyelid,” she said.
“What this is for is visitors to our region who will pay a small amount to support infrastructure or support creative and cultural investments to make the experiences better, not just for tourists, but also for people who live there.”
Ms Brabin said she was “quite keen on it because I know that Leeds, Bradford, Haworth and Ilkley are beautiful parts of the world”.
“We want to make sure that West Yorkshire really gets the benefit of that uplift in tourism.
“We had three million extra visitors from Bradford City of Culture - just imagine how we could have used that additional funding to have a deeper legacy for culture across Bradford and West Yorkshire.”
The mayor pushed back at some of the concerns raised, saying: “It’s not a tax on the business - it’s something that people are very familiar with and used to when they travel elsewhere.”
It is likely that the four new Reform councils in West Yorkshire would oppose Ms Brabin bringing in a visitor levy, given both Mr Campbell and Greater Lincolnshire’s Dame Andrea Jenkyns have said they are against it.
In York and North Yorkshire, Mr Skaith says that a £2 per night levy could bring in more than £50m a year for his combined authority.
Rebecca Layton, spokesperson for Hospitality Association York, said: “Hoteliers remain deeply concerned about the impact of further costs.
“Tourism tax supporters often cite that similar tourism levies are commonplace in other overseas destinations, however this does not consider the fact that those countries pay an average of 10 per cent VAT on hospitality, compared to 20 per cent in the UK.
“Furthermore, data highlights that of the 32 million tourists to York and North Yorkshire, only 6.1 million stay overnight, meaning less than 20 per cent of tourists are to be targeted for this tourist tax.
“This means 80 per cent of tourists will not be paying this tax back into the local economy, and further emphasises hospitality is being unfairly penalised.”