Anyone staying overnight in Wales – whether in a luxury hotel, a cozy cottage or the most basic campsite – could face a ‘visitor tax’ under a highly controversial Welsh Government scheme .
The Labour-led government has launched a consultation on the proposal which could result in almost all visitors, including Welsh residents, staying away from home, being taxed for their stays.
He argues that the idea is to raise money that local authorities can reinvest to improve tourist sites and create a sense of “shared responsibility” between residents and visitors.
The proposals have been fiercely criticized by many tourism businesses who fear a tax could make Wales look less welcoming, particularly as the consultation comes at a time of a cost of living crisis.
Suzy Davies, chair of the Wales Tourism Alliance, called it a “misguided and damaging bed tax”. He added: “Visitor numbers have not recovered since the pandemic. The Welsh Government has not opted for higher parking charges for day visitors or for entrances to vulnerable landscapes – it has gone for to the guests staying.”
The government says dozens of places around the world charge a levy, but Davies said: “Wales is not like destinations that already charge a tourist tax. They enjoy other specific tax breaks for tourism and hospitality, which mitigate the effect on their businesses. Also, unlike many other countries, the current plans will see any tax take on local authority coffers disappear without any guarantee of additional local spending.”
Rowland Rees-Evans, the manager of a holiday park near Aberystwyth, said he could understand why places like Venice might introduce taxes as a way of limiting visitor numbers. “But we want to expand and grow. The sector is very distrustful and worried.”
The Welsh Tories branded it a “tourist tax” and estimated it could cost families an extra £75 for a six-night stay and put jobs at risk.
The introduction of a visitor charge is a government commitment programme, the work of which is being carried out with Plaid Cymru as part of a partnership agreement between the two parties.
Each local authority in Wales would have the power to decide whether to introduce the levy, and the government said the money raised would be reinvested to support local tourism, for example keeping beaches clean or improving footpaths.
Rebecca Evans, the Welsh Minister for Finance and Local Government, said: “Our intention is to create a sense of shared responsibility between residents and visitors. We are asking visitors, whether they have traveled from Wales or further afield , who make a small contribution to maintain and improve the place they visit, we will encourage a more sustainable approach to tourism.”
The minister said Wales did not intend to charge a fee as a way of limiting the number of visitors, as Venice does, but to encourage more people by making places more attractive, the model she said Mallorca was following.
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It has not been decided whether it will be charged per visitor, per room or as a percentage of the total cost of the stay, and whether youth will be charged. The size of the fee is one of the issues to be consulted but it is thought that it can be fixed at a few pounds.
There would be exceptions, for example, shelters for the homeless, victims of domestic violence, accommodation for refugees and people living in Gypsy and Traveler sites.
The government has said it could be years before a tax is introduced, but Evans said Wales could become the first nation in the UK to introduce such a scheme. “I don’t think we’ll be the last,” he added.
Plaid Cymru Senedd member Cefin Campbell said: “At the moment the burden of providing infrastructure services falls mainly on local ratepayers. We believe as a matter of principle that the burden should be broadened to include those who come as visitors.”