Proposed new visitor levy 'can be a good thing', says senior official from Edinburgh council
Introducing a new levy on overnight stays for visitors could be a "good thing" if it is "done in the right way", a senior official from the City of Edinburgh Council has said.
Paul Lawrence, executive director of place for the authority, said at present the ability to "yield any revenue" from tourism in the capital was "extremely limited".
Council leaders in Edinburgh have already signalled they will introduce a new charge for visitors, if Holyrood passes legislation to enable them to do so.
MSPs on the Scottish Parliament's Local Government Committee are currently looking at the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill - which would allow councils to charge a fee on overnight visitor stays.
The new fee would be a percentage of visitors' accommodation costs and would apply to those staying in hotels, hostels, bed and breakfasts, self-catering accommodation, campsites, caravan parks and boat moorings.
Fiona Campbell, chief executive of the Association of Scotland's Self-Caterers, previously warned the committee that any proposed charge "risks the competitiveness of the Scottish tourism industry" and could result in "reputational damage here that could be devastating for Scotland".
However, Mr Lawrence said: "The most important thing is reputation and quality of experience, and if people have a great experience when they come to Edinburgh, our view, based on evidence, is they will come back."
Speaking about the proposed new levy, he added: "Broadly, we think there is an acceptance this can be a good thing, if it is done in the right way."
In Edinburgh he said councillors had "discussed it on a number of occasions and voted in favour of moving forward, subject to the legislation being enacted".
Councillor Bill Lobban, the convener of Highland Council, said it was "fully committed" to introducing a charge if the Bill is passed by MSPs.
He told the committee it was a "logical way" to fund the infrastructure needed by tourists.
Mr Lobban said: "Tourism is our main industry, we would do nothing that impacts on that industry negatively.
"In Highland you have the best scenery in the world, some of the best food in the world, some of the best accommodation in the world.
"All of that pales into insignificance if a tourist rips a tyre off their car on a pothole or has to go to the toilet behind a bush."
He added: "Tourism brings huge benefits to the area, but it brings huge costs, and to provide the best possible visitor improvement we need to fund it in some way, and this it he logical way to fund it."
He stressed, however, that those in campervans should be made to pay the charge, even if they are not staying in a recognised campsite.
As the legislation stands, campers and motorhomes staying on campsites would have to pay the proposed charge, but wild campers and those who park motorhomes overnight in a lay-by or carpark would not.
Mr Lobban said: "We have to find some way of including campervans in the process."
He told how the number of campervans visiting the Highlands had increased by 33% between 2021 and 2022, with numbers having "increased even further in 2023".
He said it was "almost inconceivable" that those vans in registered sites would have to pay while people who park in "lay-bys by the side of the street" would not.
Fergus Murray, head of development and economic growth at Argyll and Bute Council, similarly stressed the need to be "mindful of, in terms of motorhomes and how would they be captured into the visitor levy if they don't actually make use of official facilities".
He told MSPs: "Maybe we have to look at being stricter in terms of where we guide people to stay in our communities."