Vacation Hotspot In UK Issues Warning About New Tourist Tax Applicable For All

Wales is reportedly moving forward with their plan to introduce a tourism tax or a visitor levy in the coming years.

The tourism tax will be imposed on holidaymakers staying overnight in Wales. The final decision about the visitor levy would be in the hands of the local councils, as per the latest document from the Welsh Government called "A visitor levy for Wales: A contribution for a sustainable future".

The government in Wales has been discussing this plan for several years now. If the latest proposal is passed, local authorities will launch consultations in the summer of 2025 to consider whether to introduce a fee in their area or not.

In 2026, if the local authorities do opt to go ahead with the fee, they will issue a warning to the public well in advance and the tax will be in place from 2027 at the end of the notice period, according to various reports in media.

Who would need to pay tourism tax in Wales?

Under the proposed plans, people staying in Wales for at least a night would have to pay a fee. People taking just a day trip to Wales won't be charged the tourism fee. As per numbers from the Welsh government, British domestic tourists made 10,698,000 overnight trips to Wales in 2019.

Wales is set to introduce the tourism tax as it believes it is "fair and reasonable" to ask visitors to pay a small fee towards the vaster cost of tourism, with the intention of creating a "sense of shared responsibility between residents and visitors".

The money earned via the tax would then be used by each local authority to "develop sustainable tourism" in their areas.

While tourist taxes are not common yet in the UK, many European hotspots already have a form of tax for visitors, including Greece, Paris in France, Barcelona in Spain and Rome in Italy. Not just in Barcelona, tourists pay a tax in many areas of Spain, including on the Balearic islands.

Last year, Manchester became the first city to introduce a tourist tax for people making overnight stays in the city, with around 74 hotels and guesthouses signing up to the scheme for an extra £1 per night.

How much would visitors have to pay?

The exact amount of the tourist tax in Wales is expected to be decided by the Senedd with the legislation that is likely to be introduced by the end of next year.