Bath revives plan to impose tourist tax
I am sure this issue is being at least considered in a number of rural tourism hot spots. This story tells us:
The city of Bath is planning to lobby the government for the power to charge its many visitors a tourist tax.
A levy of about £1 or more could be added to the accommodation bills of the million or so tourists who stay in the Georgian city every year.
Councillors see it as a way of raising extra cash in times of austerity, but many hoteliers are reluctant to charge tourists, believing even a small additional cost will put off some visitors and claim such a scheme would be difficult – and expensive – to administer.
Bath has long considered raising a tourist tax but had previously been told by Westminster it would not be allowed to.
After it emerged at the end of last year that Birmingham might be given the go-ahead to impose a levy on visitors to help pay for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Bath decided to revive its plan.