City's tourism tax a 'no-brainer' says councillor

A proposed tourist tax to help fund York's historic attractions would be a "no-brainer", the councillor responsible for the city's economy has said.

The Labour-run authority is looking at ways to charge visitors but questions remain over the best way to do it.

Local councils cannot currently impose a tax on tourists, but York could use the same legal loophole used in other places that allows businesses to voluntarily collect the levy.

Councillor Pete Kilbane, economy executive member, said lobbying the government to get devolved powers to introduce such a tax would continue.

Earlier this year, council leader Claire Douglas said she would like to see York get powers to a levy a tourist tax, like that introduced in Manchester, so money could be invested back into the city.

Councillors on the economy, place, access and transport committee heard at a meeting on Tuesday that officers had been exploring workarounds, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

In Manchester, visitors have £1 added to their hotel bills. Other workarounds have included setting up business improvement districts (BIDs) specifically for local hotels and other hospitality businesses who collectively agree to apply the fee.

But efforts to introduce levies by such means in places including Bournemouth have faced opposition from some businesses.

Kilbane said: "A tourism levy is a no-brainer. A lot of the posh hotels say their customers wouldn't think twice about it and some are surprised there isn't already one.

"The question is how we do it, if the hospitality industry is interested in doing it voluntarily then we're open to that but they seem to have pulled away from it."

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