Glasgow's new visitors levy hoped to generate £16m
1.5% of each levy will be retained by accommodation providers to cover costs incurred by the scheme's implementation. The rest, an estimated £16m, will be invested into city centre infrastructure projects and events.
At a meeting of the council's City Administration committee today, Treasurer Ricky Bell said:
'We have been lobbying the Scottish Government for some time to give us more powers to be able to raise our own revenues and this is the start of what I hope will be a continuation of those powers being devolved to local government."
The City of Edinburgh Council approved a similar levy in January, over the objections of leading hospitality groups.
It is hoped the scheme will generate £16m each year. (Image: GRAHAM) Writing in The Glasgow Times yesterday, Bell said: 'We reckon that if we add 5% to an accommodation bill – that's an average of just under £5 per night – then we could raise around £16 million extra income annually.
'Given the unprecedented pressures on public finances, that's a decent amount of money to help improve our city and its tourism offer.'
The SNP councillor added: 'Visitor levies are common across much of the world. Cities such as Barcelona, Lisbon, Berlin, Hamburg and Paris have all introduced similar schemes in recent years and all have had an increase in visitor numbers.'
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