A PLANNED overnight visitor levy could be the ‘straw that breaks the camel’s back’, a North Yorkshire MP has warned.
The MP for Scarborough and Whitby, Alison Hume, has said that the introduction of a visitor levy on overnight stays in the region “could potentially be the straw that breaks the camel’s back” for some businesses.
David Skaith, the county’s elected mayor, has backed the introduction of a so-called tourist tax while noting that “the legislation from Government still needs to be finalised”.
Under the plans, mayors will be able to introduce a charge on overnight accommodation, with Labour mayors proposing a levy of up to 5 per cent of accommodation costs.
Speaking after a discussion with tourism experts and stakeholders from across Scarborough and Whitby on Thursday, Ms Hume said it was vital that local voices were heard before any decision is made.
“Tourism is the lifeblood of Scarborough, Whitby and the surrounding villages, so it was important to bring together businesses and stakeholders from across the sector to hear their views directly.
“It was a constructive, informative and extremely worthwhile discussion where people spoke openly and frankly.
“The overwhelming view was that introducing a levy on stays in our coastal communities during a cost-of-living crisis and at a time when businesses are under pressure from changing visitor behaviours, high utility bills, staff costs and VAT at 20 per cent, this levy could potentially be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
“Businesses want real and quantifiable answers on how a levy would work in practice and what it might mean for their visitor numbers and trade.”
At a council meeting on Wednesday, the MP reiterated that if the levy is introduced, money raised locally should be ringfenced for the area, while Mr Skaith has said the tax proceeds would be put into a collective fund.
“We love our tourists, don’t we? We generally welcome them, we give them our parking spaces and we put up with lots of the other issues that come along with tourism. We must also benefit from it,” Ms Hume said.
“It’s fair, and it wouldn’t be fair for it to go into a pot and for us not to see the lion’s share because let’s face it, in Scarborough and Whitby we are the jewels in the tourism crown of North Yorkshire.”
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However, speaking at the annual Labour Party Conference in Liverpool on Tuesday, Mr Skaith ruled out the idea of ringfencing funds to the areas in which they were raised.
“It needs to be across the entire patch and the reason I say that is if you did it into each local area, you would limit your capacity to do the big scheme projects that we need to do, particularly in our coastal areas,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).
Conservative Whitby councillor Phil Trumper said: “It’s just another tax, in my opinion, and people from the hospitality industry have been in touch with me.
“So I think we just need to stop this happening because it is going to overburden businesses. It will create unemployment in towns like Whitby.”
The Labour mayor has said he is “doing a lot of work with the community, with the hospitality sector, with the three local authorities and the public to see if it is implemented what we’d like to see it in use for”.
Funds could be used to improve transport and help regenerate high streets, the mayor has suggested.
Mr Skaith said: “I know there’s obviously a lot of concern, particularly from the hospitality sector, and I’ve met with them a lot over the last six to 12 months or so, and we will be continuing to do that now that the report from York St John Policy Lab is out as well.
“We’ve got an opportunity to collect a very small amount of money per night to have a large amount of money that we can put into the region.”
The report by York St John University, commissioned by the mayor, found that a £1-a-night visitor levy on overnight stays in York and North Yorkshire could raise up to £26 million a year.
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