Conservatives in West Somerset and Devon have renewed calls for the Government to scrap its planned "holiday tax" on English tourism, as a petition against the levy passed 3,000 signatures this week. The petition, run under the Stop the Holiday Tax campaign, has been gathering support across Devon, Somerset, Dorset and Cornwall since the spring.
The renewed pressure comes as the Government confirmed plans to let mayors in England introduce an overnight visitor levy on tourist accommodation, with Housing Secretary Angela Rayner setting out further detail after meeting mayors at No 10 North on Thursday. Under the proposals, local leaders would be able to charge an uncapped levy as a percentage of the cost of a room, rather than a flat fee, with revenue reinvested at their discretion. The policy was first floated last November and echoes schemes already running in Edinburgh, where a 5 per cent charge was introduced in July, and in Wales, where a capped £1.30-a-night levy is due next April.
UKHospitality has warned the levy could add between £100 and £120 to the average cost of a family holiday in England, and has cautioned that, without an upper limit, mayors "are going to pull that lever until it snaps." The South West's tourism and hospitality sector supports around 377,000 jobs, some 12 per cent of the region's workforce, and campaigners argue that even a modest fall in visitor numbers as holidaymakers look overseas would put many of those jobs at risk, alongside the pubs, cafés and guesthouses that depend on them.
James Wright, Exmoor farmer and campaigner, said: "The Holiday Tax hurts families and jobs right here. Tourism is the lifeblood of the South West economy. Families are already stretched, and piling another cost onto a British holiday ia reckless. Labour should be backing the businesses and workers who keep our coastal and rural communities going."
“The Liberal Democrats who run the councils in Devon and Somerset must rule out leveraging yet another tax on families.”
Allen Simpson, chief executive of UKHospitality, has separately warned that some holiday parks could be forced to close in the shoulder seasons if councils make full use of the new power, at a time when local government finances remain under strain.
The Government has said it will be for local leaders and local voters to decide what is right for their area, and that mayors are unlikely to set the levy so high as to deter visitors.
https://www.somersetcountyconservatives.org.uk/stop-holiday-tax
