Tourist taxes are the hot topic when it comes to travelling this summer. Not only are taxes for travellers being imposed across Europe and the rest of the world, they are also starting to pop up in some cities in the UK. Cambridge and Manchester are already trialling a tourist tax, and now another British destination may soon introduce one.
Locals in Weston-super-Mare are calling for the council to bring in a new tax after the beaches are found ‘riddled with nappies, vapes and plastic’ during the peak summer season. A group of litter pickers called Sophie's Super Litter Picking are asking North Somerset Council to introduce a ‘holiday tax’, where tourists would be charged small fees to mitigate the negative effects of tourism and invest back into the community.
Sophie Newton, who runs the litter picking group, said: ‘More people means more rubbish. No one type of person or demographic is to blame.
‘As a seaside town, we simply aren't ever prepared for the influx of visitors and unfortunately, we very much cannot afford the extra provisions required from our council tax alone.’
Newton claimed on July 29 she collected 18 full bags of rubbish from one day alone. She added that while a tax would be ‘controversial’, European countries have seen holiday levies be a great success.
But a tariff on holiday-makers in Somerset currently seems unlikely. Council leader Mike Bell didn’t have much to say on the matter, other than that there are more than 40 bins on the seafront which are emptied daily, and that action is taken against those caught littering.
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