A visitor levy is an investment in our future
Mark Drakeford – Cabinet Secretary for Finance
Whether it’s the majestic mountain ranges of Eryri, our vibrant cities, or our picturesque coastline, Wales has so much to offer visitors. But we must ensure
tourism and our communities continue to thrive.
This week, the Welsh Government has introduced a Bill which will do just that. If passed by the Senedd, it will give local authorities the ability to introduce a small charge on overnight visitor stays in their area – this is known as a visitor levy.
We want everyone to be able to enjoy everything our beautiful country has to offer. We believe local infrastructure and services should be funded by all those who use them.
The visitor levy is designed to ensure visitors make a small contribution to the maintenance and improvement of the areas they visit, alongside local residents.
This Bill supports our ambitions for sustainable tourism in Wales. The Bill is an important step towards that goal because the proceeds from the levy will be
reinvested in schemes and services which support tourism in a local area.
Unique
Wales is a diverse country – some communities might benefit from introducing a levy more than others – it will be up to local authorities to decide whether they apply in their area, based on the unique needs and features of their area.
Before they do so, they must consult locally to help inform their decision. We
estimate the earliest a visitor levy could be introduced in any part of Wales would be 2027.
If the Bill is passed, those areas which decide to use a levy, the charge would be 75p per person per night for visitor stays at campsites and hostels, and £1.25 per person per night for stays in other visitor accommodation.
We estimate the levy could raise up to £33m per year if it was introduced in every area of Wales. This would raise new money for local communities, which would be re-invested in the area to improve local facilities and infrastructure used by visitors, such as public toilets, footpaths, beaches and visitor centres.
Potential
This funding could also be allocated to the promotion of sustainable tourism and the support of the Welsh language to ensure the continued growth and preservation of Cymraeg.
This recognises the important link between heritage and tourism. Do we want to miss out on the transformative opportunities a levy could provide?
Many places across Europe have introduced a visitor levy, including Venice and
Amsterdam. Manchester became the first UK city to introduce a charge for visitors to hotels, raising £2.8m in its first year – the revenue raised has been spent on improving the local area through street cleaning and public events.
The Balearic Islands’ charge for visitors has financed 168 projects worth €263m
since 2016, covering a wide range of areas, such as the environment, cultural
heritage, employment and social renting.
Proud
We see the same potential in Wales. And the levy could help support similar
investments in local areas. Wales is a fantastic destination with something for everyone. We are proud to show it off.
That’s why we think it’s fair we ask those visitors coming to stay to make a small contribution to help protect and maintain its beauty and to invest in our communities.
Imagine a future where every visitor contributes to the preservation and
enhancement of the very place they come to enjoy. By asking visitors to make a fair contribution to sustain a tourism industry that is so vital to our economy, we can ensure Wales remains an attractive visitor destination
for years to come.
This visitor levy is an investment in our future.
Support our Nation today
For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.
In theory this is a good idea. In practice though I don’t have any faith in the money trickling down to the community.
Might as well not bother trying then.
If such a charge is introduced then the tourism sector in that area should have an input into how the monies are utilised. They need to see the benefits as they will be collecting the levy.
I mean, not to be rude, but this was addressed in the article:
“Before they do so, they must consult locally to help inform their decision.”
“This would raise new money for local communities, which would be re-invested in the area to improve local facilities and infrastructure used by visitors, such as public toilets, footpaths, beaches and visitor centres.”
Like literally what more could they do? Sustainable public services and additional funds for community projects can only serve to help the businesses in these communities.
Plenty of consultation ends with no notice taken of the consultation as the CT payers in Caerphilly CBC will attest to
This tac will be on law with with legislative provisions stipulating where the money can go. Not consultation.
Consult is not exactly the same as say, being on the actual committee making the spending decisions
I am afraid we have been here before. ‘Lets us here your views, make your voice heard fill in the consultation’. People make their views known and are then subsequently ignored by the politicians.
A tourism tax is normal in most developed countries. Anyone who visits London will realise how much tourists are charged through the nose, in most cases exploited. But it’s what you do with the money raised is the important thing. Tourists visit, some on a regular basis, popular parts of Wales because they love the culture, history & landscape so choose to return. Any levy should go to back into those communities to not only protect the landscape but also improve facilities for both locals and tourists alike.
“Any levy should go to back into those communities to not only protect the landscape but also improve facilities for both locals and tourists alike” – it will if passed. The money from the tax will be hypothecated.
Worth it if just to keep our public toilets open
Only in football management can I think of a career where someone can be mediocre to poor and keep getting top jobs. Lets start at the end of the article. ‘Wales is a fantastic destination with something for everyone. We are proud to show it off’. Really? It was only last year that there was a committee lamenting that ‘Wales punches below its weight in attracting international visitors’ and how ‘Wales lacks a distinct brand, unlike other nations in the UK’. ‘We estimate the levy could raise up to £33m per year if it was introduced in every area of… Read more »
Let’s start with your first paragraph. How do the two examples you provide contradict the statement? It’s perfectly possible that “Wales is a fantastic destination with something for everyone” yet “punches below its weight in attracting international visitors” and “lacks a distinct brand”. It’s not enough being awesome if no-one knows it. Everyone in business knows this. It’s why a trillion dollars are spent on ads every year.
‘It’s not enough being awesome if no one knows it’. That is the point. Why do a lot of people not know about Wales. How can a country with a rich history ‘lack a disinct brand’? Or the other side of a tourism strategy. From the top of my head the Beast of Bodmin in Cornwall the Loch Ness monster in Scotland. Whether real or not it brings in the tourists.
Does a vistor levy, the 82 day criteria and the 20 mph rules help tourism? The money spent on the 20 mph could have gone to promoting Wales instead.
If you want to improve the visitor economy, which can range from free toilets to Visit Conwy ads on the Paris Metro, money must be spent. That money must come from somewhere, and it must be a reliable source of funds which rules out ad-hoc sums from other tiers of government and it rules out ctax which must be spent first on legal priorities so it stops in a downturn (like we are seeing now with public toilets closing) just when the sector needs supporting more. Unless you have a better idea, a small levy on overnight accommodation is the… Read more »
‘A small levy on overnight accommodation is the only other option…, it must be a reliable source of income’. I disagree on both points. The all important c word is mentioned, could. It ‘could raise up to £33m per year it it was introduced in every area of Wales’. What happens if not all areas implement this levy? How low will this tax take go? What could be then accomplished with less money? This is a typical tunnel vision government idea. See the pounds signs but does not look at the whole picture. The policy weights more towards overnight visits… Read more »
Are you saying we shouldn’t develop the visitor economy or are you proposing a different funding source?
First part no, second part yes.
What alternative funding source are you proposing that isn’t reliant on the largesse of other tiers of government and won’t disappear completely in a downturn?
I was not proposing anything that you have just said. I proposed funding should not come from the tourist tax/levy. How much of the £33 million figure would actually go towards developing the visitor economy because it is not all specifically for that?
The Welsh government already provides funding to ‘distinctive, stand out tourism projects that align with the priorities of Welsh government’. Two examples are the Brilliant Basics fund and the Wales Tourism Investment Fund. The government in the past has stated that they ‘will continue to promote domestic and international tourism’.
Which of those will keep public toilets open?
From the Brilliant Basics Fund 2025-2026/7.
‘(iii) Inclusive tourism and enhancing accessibility. Upgrading / new accessible toilet facilities with dedicated ‘changing places’ toilet facilities in areas of high visitor footfall’.
Do you understand the difference between capex and opex? It’s not enough to get the money to build stuff if you don’t have the money to run it each year.
I understand this. In terms of running costs maybe expanding the numbers of toilets where you have to pay to use them.
So why are they being closed instead, now belts are being tightened?
That is a very important question, however I cannot give you a definite answer to it. The only thing I can say is that from news reports there are a number of differing opinions.
The Westminster/Conservative government being blamed for a lack of funding to Wales. Welsh Labour not giving enough to local authorities. Local authorities being wasteful with the money they are already have.
It’s safe to say they wouldn’t be closing if councils had a revenue stream that wasn’t reliant on the largesse of other tiers of government and was ringfenced for the visitor economy. Wouldn’t you agree?
If it is ring fenced for the visitor economy. Two years is a long time and in that time maybe Drakeford will add more detail to his plan.
However, ‘this funding could also be allocated to the promotion of sustainable tourism and the support of the Welsh language to ensure the continued growth and preservation of Cymraeg’.
Maybe it is cynicism with Welsh politics but it would not surprise me if the biggest portions of the supposed £33 million figure go to the above more than public toilets/the visitor economy.
I can’t see why some people are making a such a big issue about this proposal. It’s hardly as if the amount proposed for the charge is extortionate – £1.25 per person per night, I understand. My own native city of Manchester where I grew up has brought in a tourist tax now that – in a way that would have seemed wholly improbable in my young days! – the place has morphed into a tourist destination. I don’t recall any particular opposition to that levy. And I remember when visiting Bulgaria over twenty years ago that we tourists were… Read more »
My son is on national living wage, he has 3 children and a stay at home wife as they can’t afford childcare for their youngest child (2). If they go on a week’s holiday it is going to cost them an additional £6.25 a night. They don’t have enough enough slack in their budget for this. As they live in Wales in any case why should they be financially penalised for having a holiday here.