LONDON- The first city in the United Kingdom to have imposed a tourist tax on visitors comes out to be Manchester.
As of April 1st, people face an extra £1 per room, per night, for their accommodation cost which will be utilized to run large events, conferences, festivals, marketing campaigns and for street cleanliness; the tax has been named ‘City Visitor Charge’.
Manchester City Council Chief Executive Joanne Roney appreciated the move and termed it “innovative initiative” besides highlighting that it would raise £3m a year to what he said “enhance” visitors’ experience.
It would create “new events and activities for them to enjoy”, she said, adding that the money would be “invested directly into these activities, supporting Manchester’s accommodation sector to protect and create jobs and benefiting the city’s economy as a whole”.
The fund would funnel funds into the development of a new organisation named Accommodation Business Improvement District (ABID). Annie Brown, the first chair of the ABID, said the tax is a smart move — even during harsh economic winter.
The move would help create “a more sustainable and thriving sector, helping to bring visitors from around the world to experience the best of what Manchester and Salford have to offer”, Brown said and added that around 6,000 new bedrooms would be created over the next few years.
“The goal of the Manchester Accommodation BID is simple – we need to increase overnight stays in line with that growth so that hotels and serviced apartments in the city can continue to thrive,” she said.
The move comes after accommodation providers voted to set up the Manchester Accommodation Business Improvement District (ABID). Meanwhile, 73 hotels and serviced apartments signed up to the levy scheme which has been introduced to expand the tourism sector.
Although Manchester is the first UK city to impose the tax, other cities are also in line. Wales is also set to introduce legislation to impose a tourist tax.
Moreover, Edinburgh is another city that is mulling to introduce a £2 nightly tourist tax, if that is approved by the Scottish parliament. Not only that, Oxford, Bath and Hull have mulled over such proposals in the past but did not impose the tax eventually.
While ABID officials appreciate the move, some say the tax is unjust considering the amount of Value Added Tax already charged from the tourists.
Some hotel owners decry that the move makes their facility more uncompetitive compared to similar destinations across the world. They say tourist tax is imposed in places where VAT is significantly lower.
