City council could agree Scotland’s first visitor levy charge at online meeting
Members of Edinburgh’s city council are to meet online to discuss plans to introduce a charge on visitors staying overnight in the area.
Scotland’s first ever visitor levy could be agreed by councillors at a meeting on Friday.
Members of the City of Edinburgh Council are expected to approve plans to bring in the charge on those staying in overnight accommodation throughout the area.
However, with a rare red weather warning in place as a result of Storm Eowyn, councillors will be meeting virtually to discuss the proposals – which could raise up to £50 million a year for the authority.
Council leader Jane Meagher has previously described the levy as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to invest in the city.
It comes after Holyrood, last year, approved legislation giving councils across Scotland the ability to introduce such a charge.
If approved, the levy will see a 5% charge applied to those staying in hotels, bed and breakfasts, and other forms of accommodation, including holiday lets.
Under the council’s plans, it will be applied on bookings made after May 1 this year, for accommodation stays from July 24 2026 onwards.
Friday’s full council meeting to discuss the proposal comes after it was backed last week by the authority’s policy and sustainability committee.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), however, warned councillors against a “headlong rush to be the first” to introduce the charge.
Garry Clark, FSB’s development manager for Edinburgh and the East of Scotland, said: “Edinburgh’s small accommodation providers haven’t yet been given all the information necessary to plan for the potential impact on them.”
He added: “It’s not too late for the council to make the sensible decision to pause the scheme and plan properly for its smooth implementation, rather than engaging in a headlong rush to be the first to implement the levy.”
Ms Meagher said last week that she was “focused on delivering a scheme that will be both fit for purpose and workable” and that would also “benefit our city, our residents and our visitors for many years to come”.
The council leader said: “At all stages of this process, we’ve listened to, and taken account of, the views of residents, industry and other stakeholders – and we mustn’t lose sight of just how much positivity there is for the scheme across all of these groups.”
