Top UK holiday destination to charge £1.30 MORE per night in tourist tax crackdown
TAXING TIMES Top UK holiday destination to charge £1.30 MORE per night in tourist tax crackdown
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BRITS visiting a popular UK destination are set to be hit with an extra £1.30 per night.
Holidaymakers who take a trip to Wales will be thumped with a visitor levy - or tourist tax - after the proposal was given the nod.
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Visitors to Wales are set to be hit with a tourist tax from 2027
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It marks the first local tax in 500 years to be legislated in the country and will likely put into effect from April 2027.
Punters who stay in hotels or Airbnbs will be required to pay an added £1.30 per night, while those overnighting in hostels and campsites will be asked to hand over 80p, North Wales Live reported.
With Plaid Cymru's support for the Bill, it was voted through with 37 Senedd Members in support, 13 against and no abstentions.
However, if the Welsh Conservatives down the community-based party, they say the tax will be scrapped.
In the Senedd yesterday, North Wales Tory MS Sam Rowlands said the tax was 'bad for Wales and bad for the Welsh tourism sector'.
He added: 'You really would think that nobody would ever travel to a holiday destination in Wales again.
'Our research tells us unequivocally that the revenue generated has significantly contributed to environmental protection, the enhancement of facilities and infrastructure, the preservation of natural beauty, while supporting the visitor economy – all without deterring tourism.
"We want the same for Wales.'
The tax, which has been revised since its initial proposal, will not require under 18s staying campsites, hostels and outdoors centres to pay the tax.
Locations including Swansea, Newport, Caerphilly, Vale of Glamorgan and Rhondda Cynon Taf have said they have no plans to impose the tax on visitors.
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It comes news that people staying overnight in Liverpool will have to pay the "tourist tax" - which could raise millions each year - after it was introduced in June.
The vote was passed during a ballot by Accommodation BID, which represents 83 hotels and a number of serviced apartment providers in the city.
Dubbed the £2 City Visitor Charge, the group predicts the levy could raise as much as £9.2 million over two years, of which around 73 per cent will go towards supporting Liverpool's visitor economy.
Liverpool BID Company, which manages Accommodation BID, said the tax would "turbo charge" the tourism and visitor economy in the UK's fifth largest city.
Accommodation providers and hotels will manage and administer the charge, making customers pay either when they check in or when their stay is over.
Money raised under the scheme will be administered by Accommodation BID, which includes two business improvement districts in the city centre and represents more than 800 companies.
Of the 83 hotels balloted about the charge, 59 per cent were in favour, from a turnout of 53 per cent - meaning just 26 of the establishments queried approved of the scheme, with 18 opposed.
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