The prospect of visitors to Edinburgh being charged extra – on top of their travel and accommodation costs – to stay in the city has moved a step closer with the Scottish Parliament giving its initial backing for a tourist tax to be introduced in the country’s capital.
Tourist taxes – whereby a city or region raises extra funds through charging extra for visitor stays – is rapidly growing throughout Europe and Edinburgh’s version has been on the cards for some time.
Such taxes usually amount to a few euro added onto a customer’s accommodation expenses. When it mounts up, it adds to a region’s coffers to help pay for infrastructure or general tourism offering improvements.
A cross-party committee in the Scottish Parliament has now decided a tourist tax would probably not deter visitors from going to Scotland on holiday.
Edinburgh is set to be the first city in Scotland to introduce the tax.
The committee passed the motion – which still needs to be ironed out in detail before passing into legislation – after meeting and consulting with hoteliers, the broader tourism industry and local authorities.
