Tourism travails
As such, there will be relief that City of York Council has no immediate plans to levy a £1-a-night charge on future visitors to this iconic location. It would have put York, and the region in its entirety, at odds with the rest of the country – even though the Government has indicated that a tourism tax could be a means to raise additional revenue to fund marketing campaigns and so forth.
Yet there are also intriguing political contradictions in play. A Tory-led government is considering an extra tax, an approach that should be at odds with the Conservatives’ pro-business values. And then there is James Alexander, the Labour leader of City of York Council, on the side of enterprise by advocating a temporary VAT reduction to help hoteliers attract even more visitors and, thereby, stimulate the wider economy.
They are contradictions that must not be allowed to detract from the over-riding priority: namely continuing efforts to ensure Yorkshire remains one of the world’s “must-visit” tourist destinations.