Edinburgh councillors to vote on Scotland's first visitor levy

Edinburgh councillors are to vote for Scotland’s first visitor levy designed to raise £50m annually for the authority.

The final proposals for the scheme, taking account the findings of the 12-week public consultation, were presented by officers at a special meeting of the Policy & Sustainability Committee last Friday (January 17).

The plan will go before all councillors for final approval at a special meeting of the council on January 24.

Council leader Jane Meagher described the charge as a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to invest in the city following last week’s meeting.

Her statement read: “Today represented yet another important milestone in our journey towards securing a visitor levy for Edinburgh – and to realising a once in a lifetime opportunity to invest tens of millions of pounds towards enhancing and sustaining the things that make our city such a great place to visit – and live in – all year round.

“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. It’s in this spirit that we’re considering the further submissions received from the wider tourism sector this week, ensuring we’re as well informed as we can be ahead of taking a decision next Friday.

“I remain focused on delivering a scheme that will be both fit for purpose and workable – and that will benefit our city, our residents and our visitors for many years to come.”

Holyrood approved legislation giving councils across Scotland the ability to introduce a visitor levy in May 2024, and Edinburgh is expected to be the first authority to introduce it.

If approved, the levy would see a 5% charge applied to those staying in hotels, bed and breakfasts, self-catering accommodation, and campsites and caravan parks.

The levy would be applied on bookings made after May 1 this year, for accommodation stays from July 24 2026 onwards.

Charges would be applied for a maximum of five consecutive nights per person under the plans.