Visitor Levy - what could it mean for you?
People across Scotland are considering a visitor levy for their area and we want communities in Argyll and Bute to have the same chance to consider one for here. Please find out what it could mean for you and the area during our 12-week consultation exercise, and give us your views. Thank you.
What is a visitor levy?
The Scottish Government's visitor levy legislation (Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act) allows a charge to be introduced on overnight stays in hotels and other short-term accommodations, to raise funds to support and sustain local services and infrastructure for the visitor economy. It would be paid by people using hotels and other short term accommodation. As many services used by visitors are shared with local residents, investment in visitor economy services could also benefit residents.
Why consider a visitor levy for Argyll and Bute?
The visitor economy is a key industry for Argyll and Bute. The 2.7 million visitors to the area expect and use many public services that are used also by residents. To keep the area as a top visitor attraction we must consider the harsh reality that many services used by visitors and shared with residents are not a statutory duty of a council to deliver and are under threat from shrinking public budgets. The national visitor levy legislation gives an option for raising investment specifically in the visitor economy, and so benefit visitors, residents, and the area’s future as a competitive visitor destination.
What could a levy be spent on?
The law surrounding the Visitor Levy requires that all funds raised after administrative costs are spent on improving services and support for the visitor economy, and an annual report must be submitted to the Scottish Government detailing how that has been done.
Indications are that a levy set at 5% could raise over £9 million gross per year (before estimated set up costs of £215k and ongoing annual running costs estimated to be £460k, or other deductions such as for exemptions) for services and infrastructure supporting Argyll and Bute’s visitor economy and residents.
Examples of services used by visitors include roads and waste services, car parks, electric vehicle charge points, harbours, piers, public toilets, walking paths, motorhomes waste disposal points and recycling centres.
Other examples of how visitor levy income could be used include support for individual tourism businesses to develop their services, extending the visitor season, support for culture and heritage opportunities, including events; and developing connectivity to make it easier to travel between islands and destinations.
Our consultation questions include asking you what you would like income spent on, if a levy was introduced, and also what support local businesses would like if involved with it.
Did you know - if a visitor levy was introduced, a Visitor Levy Forum involving community and business reps would be set up as part of the process to agree on what levy income was spent on?
How to find out more
There are links to more information at the top of this web page.
The formal consultation will run until 10 April 2025. Between now and then we will provide regular updates via:
- This website
- Our weekly news round-up email, which is a briefing on general council and other news
- Our new Visitor Levy subscription email update service
- Our social media channels
- We will also be running a series of online seminars and face to face drop-in events for the public. We will announce further details about these soon.
Find out more on the Visit Scotland website. For more information about the situation in Argyll and Bute please see our Questions and answers.
Contact us
If you have any enquiries, or require more information about the Argyll and Bute Visitor Levy, you can contact us at abvl@argyll-bute.gov.uk
