Nairn hotel owner raises concerns over tourism levy's pressure on recovering hospitality industry
PLANS to introduce a new local tourist levy will be one more burden added to an already struggling hospitality industry according to a leading businesswoman.
Last week Highland Council leader Raymond Bremner welcomed the Scottish Government’s announcement that it intends to introduce a tourist levy bill at Holyrood.
If passed, local authorities will be able to apply the levy, or tax, based on a percentage of overnight stay costs.
Morag Holding, chairwoman of Nairn Connects BID and owner of The Havelock pub hotel in Nairn, said it all added to what is an exhausting period.
“We are already struggling with rising costs on utilities, produce and services, the short term let licensing scheme, deposit return scheme, staff shortages,” she said.
“All this whilst trying to keep accommodation costs down so that they are reasonable enough we are still able to attract people to the area.
“The past year has been exhausting and extremely hard, and it’s not getting any easier.
“Most businesses are trying to work around these issues and come up with new creative solutions for them, but this feels like yet another scheme on top of everything else and it’s getting extremely difficult to keep the business profitable.”
According to Mrs Holding, even a few pounds added to the cost of accommodation would risk putting off visitors.
“I see more and more people deciding not to pay for breakfast when they stay over, to keep costs lower,” she said.
“I am not saying that there aren’t problems that need to be resolved and that the council will need some levy to help them manage that, but they need much more careful consideration – we need to look at how this impacts different businesses and find bespoke solutions.”
One of her main concerns is where money collected in the event that a levy is imposed will be distributed.
She said: “If you consider Nairn, we haven’t had much in terms of investment from the council when it comes to tourism.
“With the BID we clean the streets, maintain and renew tourist signage, address seagull issues, keep the marketing going across the Visit Nairn website. Businesses are paying a levy in order to keep the town attractive. However, that money is ring-fenced and fed directly back in Nairn, understanding what the specific issues are.
Top stories
-
‘Limited demand’ for office space means common good fund misses out on thousands of pounds
-
‘Is that all you have got?’ asks man while being attacked by partner’s estranged husband
-
Update: Revamped play park where child narrowly missed being hit by equipment had passed inspections
-
Near miss reported due to equipment failure at newly-reopened play park following £500k revamp
“One of the issues of a broad levy for tourists is about the ring-fencing of funds, and how those funds are used – are these being put back in the area where they are raised or into a collective fund where the council decides how to spend them? I think there is a lot more to be done before we rush into implementing this.”
Other representatives of the tourism industry across the Highlands have also voiced their concerns about the potential impact of a tourist tax.
Tony Story, who runs the Kingsmills and Ness Walk hotels in Inverness said: “It’s a disaster. We’re under the cosh enough as it is.
“I know it’s not something that will happen in the next 10 minutes but it’s important people understand this puts more pressure on everything.”
Councillor Bremner said: “The Highland Council has long supported the idea of a tourist levy to enable the local authority to invest in local infrastructure and is a commitment in our council programme.
“The introduction of the Bill is good news and means we can now plan for the introduction of this local levy following approval of the Bill by parliament.”
