You might have expected London or Edinburgh to get in there first, but Manchester has actually become the first place in the UK to introduce a so-called ‘tourist tax’. Soon, you’ll have to pay an extra £1 per night per room if you stay in a hotel in the city centre.
The ‘city visitor charge’ will apply from April 1. The idea is nothing new: it echoes similar measures introduced in other popular European destinations including Barcelona, which taxes holidaymakers €4 a night, and Venice, which charges €5.
Seventy-four hotels and guesthouses in Manchester are currently signed up to the scheme. It is hoped that the tax will raise £3 million per year to go towards the Manchester Accommodation Business Improvement District (ABID), a project looking to ‘create new events and additional activities that will attract more people to visit and stay in Manchester and Salford.’
Speaking about the tourist tax, Annie Brown, chair of the ABID, told Manchester Evening News: ‘I think [the message it sends] has been a consideration. However, when you compare it to European cities that have had taxes and visitor levies in place for a number of years, we feel it’s a small amount comparatively.
‘There are other cities in the UK looking to put in place what Manchester has done, I don’t think it’s a charge that’s off-putting.'
Edinburgh has been teasing a £2 tax for some time, while Bath and Oxford have also toyed with the idea.
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