Highland chambers of commerce in Inverness, Caithness and Lochaber criticise possibilities of a tourist tax in submission to Highland Council consultation
THE Highlands’ three chambers of commerce have joined forces to strongly oppose the introduction of a tourist tax – arguing it would place an extra levy on the “hard-pressed” industry.
Inverness, Caithness and Lochaber’s chambers, which together represent 820 companies across the Highlands, outlined their stance in a submission to Highland Council’s consultation on the issue.
The letter, signed by the chambers’ chief executives Stewart Nicol (Inverness), Trudy Morris (Caithness) and Frazer Coupland (Lochaber), will also be passed to the Scottish Government which is taking submissions on the topic.
The government has committed to consult on, and introduce, legislation to give councils the power to apply the tax, also known as a Transient Visitor Levy. This will enable local authorities to introduce the levy if they consider it right in their local circumstances.
Highland Council says the levy is one option it is considering as a way of raising income to manage the impact of tourism and help it invest in the industry. It estimates a Highland Transient Visitor Levy could generate £5 to £10 million each year.
In their submission, the chambers say they appreciate the difficulty Highland Council faces in responding to the infrastructure and service challenges and are committed to working in partnership with it to respond to the situation.
But they reject a tourist tax as a solution.
The submission says: “You will be aware that the tourism sector is already facing unprecedented challenges with recruitment and retaining of skilled staff. This has been a real challenge for many years and has been critically exacerbated by the prolonged and damaging uncertainty around Brexit.
“The sector has been under significant cost pressure in recent years, particularly around business rates. Regardless of how the levy is framed, this would act as a further unwelcome tax on this hard-pressed sector.”
It is also argued that business visitors will be liable to any additional daily charge, which would inevitably add to the cost of doing business in the Highlands.
Stewart Nicol said: “The three chambers are united in our opposition. Many of our members operate in the tourism sector and we feel it will be a further burden on visitors and discourage people from coming here.
“It is the wrong mechanism to tackle the industry’s challenges and would send out a very negative message that the Highlands could be an increasingly expensive place to visit and to do business.”
