“Councils and communities across Scotland are considering a levy for their area and we want people in Argyll and Bute to have that chance too, so I would encourage everyone between now and April to find out what a visitor levy could mean for you and give a view.”
The Leader of Argyll and Bute Council, Councillor Jim Lynch explained why the council is asking people to get involved in considering a visitor levy:
“Argyll and Bute welcomes more than 2.7 million visitors every year, which is good news for our economy. Visitors understandably expect and use many public services when they’re here. And they share many of these services with our residents, such as roads, waste, leisure and transport services.
“Many of these services are not a statutory duty of a council to deliver and so are at risk from limited public funding.
“The national visitor levy legislation allows areas to introduce a charge for people making overnight stays in hotels and other short-term accommodation, to support local services used by visitors as well as residents, and to keep the area as a top visitor attraction.
“With other areas considering a levy as an investment in their future, it is important that people in Argyll and Bute have that same opportunity and I would encourage everyone to find out what a visitor levy could mean for them.”
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.
What services would people want income from a visitor levy to be spent on, if one was introduced? What support would tourism businesses like with managing a levy? How much should a levy be? For anyone against a visitor levy, how would they see the visitor economy being funded in future?
These are some of the questions on which views are being invited between now and April.
The council provides different ways of finding out about the visitor levy, including a series of online seminars and face-to-face drop-in events for the public that are being planned across the area and will be announced in due course.
Information about the visitor levy and how to get informed and involved is on the council’s website at www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/visitor-levy