A petition has been launched by the Highland Hotels Association against plans by Highland Council to introduce a visitor levy – commonly called a tourist tax – and it has already garnered more than 1700 signatories.
The council has yet to officially determine its final proposals and recently extended the deadline for the consultation which now runs until the end of March “to strengthen the involvement of the tourism industry”.
The tourist industry and many hospitality operators appear to be dead set against it despite evidence from tourist hotspots abroad that it has not put anyone off travelling or visiting hotspots like Amsterdam, Barcelona or Venice.
What is known is that the Scottish Government policy allows councils to implement such tariffs in a bid to help fund areas that are hit hard by mass tourism, such as road repairs on the NC500.
Overflowing waste bins on the NC500 at Loch Clash motorhome stopover, Kinlochbervie.
The online petition titled ‘Highland Council – we do not support the Visitor Levy Tax’ has already got more than 1700 signatories and aims to hit the 2500 mark.
In its post the association fears that the scheme would be “an extra tax on visitors AND locals staying in any overnight hosted accommodation – this includes public traveling for work and hospital visits”.
It stated: “This will have far-reaching, negative effects on our local tourism, retail and leisure industries.
“It may cause accommodation providers to review their operations, staffing and pricing due to the extra financial cost, resulting in a decrease in visitor numbers and local employment numbers.
“Tourism is worth £1.5bn to the Highland Economy, supporting 19,000 jobs – any negative additional taxes could have serious economic consequences for our area, local people and businesses.
“Another major concern is that this levy will be included in the accommodation providers turnover, this therefore makes the levy itself subject to VAT. Tax on Tax is wrong and this method could also push small businesses above the VAT threshold.
It concluded: “We urge the Highland Council to reconsider this proposal and listen to the public and business owners who will be directly impacted”.