Tourism businesses’ concerns about the introduction of a visitor levy in York and North Yorkshire have been revealed as the region’s mayor describes the proposal as a “game-changing opportunity”.
Of the 277 responses to a North Yorkshire Council survey on the levy on overnight stays, 71 per cent were opposed to the idea, with 18 per cent in support and 11 per cent neutral.
The council carried out the consultation to shape its response to a national survey on the government’s plans to give elected mayors the power to introduce a visitor levy in their areas.
A report outlining the findings of the survey has been produced for a council meeting next Tuesday.
A letter from the authority’s executive member for open to business, Councillor Mark Crane, on the council response to the government has been prepared ahead of the meeting.
Cllr Crane said: “It is important that we listen to what the tourism sector is telling us locally and I am very keen to use our voice to highlight what businesses are saying about the proposed visitor levy to the government.
“If a visitor levy is to be introduced, then it is vital that elected mayors consult extensively with the businesses and organisations that will be impacted. If the levy goes ahead, there needs to be flexibility on a local level to spend the money raised where it is needed most.
“The visitor economy is so important for our local economy and attracts visitors from across the world to our beautiful market and coastal towns and the wealth of cultural experiences that are on offer.”
He added: “All businesses are already under extreme pressure from rising VAT, business rates, energy costs and wage increases, and we need to make sure that all of our tourism sector is not adversely affected if a visitor levy is introduced.”
Respondents to the survey feared a visitor levy would lead to a decline in the number of people visiting York and North Yorkshire.
Tourism businesses were also concerned it would discourage overnight stays or shorten trips, particularly among visitors and families on a budget.
Worries that visitors would choose areas without a levy that had cheaper overnight stays were also raised, along with concerns about the administrative burden it might place on businesses.
Tourism businesses argued that a levy would be applied solely to overnight accommodation and not the wider tourism industry, so it was therefore a “tourism tax” specifically for accommodation providers.
If a visitor levy was introduced, respondents wanted to see revenue used to fund improvements to enhance visitors’ experiences and support the long-term sustainability of the tourism industry, which is worth more than £4 billion to the local economy.
In response to the concerns, York and North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he had spent the last four weeks speaking to businesses about the levy.
He added: “As we’ve been saying, everything is on the table, no decisions have been made at all yet, but this is a game-changing opportunity to bring multiple millions of pounds into York and North Yorkshire to not only drive investment into the sector itself, but also to support our communities who often feel like that the impact of tourism can sometimes be a negative.”
The mayor said the initial response from the sector was one of concern.
But he added: “As soon as we lay out the opportunities around it — using the money to invest actually in the sector, to promote York and North Yorkshire, to invest in the skills, to invest in the transport, to promote the region — you can then bring people on the journey.”
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