Yorkshire businesses and visitors react as mayors get tourist tax powers

Business owners in Yorkshire have said any "tourist tax" introduced under new powers for mayors must be set at a reasonable cost to avoid putting off visitors.

Regional mayors in England are set to gain powers to impose an uncapped levy in their areas.

The overnight charge would be paid as a percentage of the cost of staying in hotels, bed and breakfasts and other types of accommodation.

Millions of pounds could be raised through the policy, which leaders are suggesting could be ring-fenced for tourism-related purposes, but others fear it could deter visitors.

Louise Turner owns gift shop and ice cream parlour LoobyLou's in Howarth, West Yorkshire, which attracts visitors from around the globe due to it being the home of the Brontë family.

She said if tourists were not walking through the door she had no business, so was concerned about how a visitor levy would affect trade.

"I don't think it's a bad thing, but I think people are scared at the moment with everything and they want a little holiday," Turner said.

"We need the reassurance that it's going to be an affordable tax, we're already up against the wall with everything else with our gas, rent, everything.

"If they don't come in we're just going to fold."

Labour's regional mayors in England pledged to cap a new fee on visitors' overnight stays at 5% after hospitality bosses warned it could put jobs at risk.

Pauline Lowe, visiting from Nottingham for a walking holiday, praised the idea of a visitor levy.

"I'm more than happy to pay the local tax in any city that I visit in England because I pay it in Europe," she said.

"As long as it does reach the local community, who perhaps feel overcome and don't feel the benefit of tourism.

"If that tax is paid to the local community I am more than happy to give it."

Exploring York's famous walls, Molly Zhang and Brian Kim were visiting the city for one night.

The pair, from Edinburgh, said a visitor levy would not necessarily put them off travelling to North Yorkshire, depending on how it was implemented.

"I'm happy to pay that, but it also really depends on how much it is and if they're charging reasonably," Zhang said.

It is not a concept Kim is unfamiliar with after travelling around Europe.

"It started building up, because every city we visited had a city tax so it kind of became an additional fixed cost to consider," he said.

"It did put me off a little bit, so I would say that if it's within a reasonable range it's not bad - but if it starts building up as a percentage of your stay then it could affect you."

Following the government announcement, South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard said people visited his region for a host of reasons including business, football and the snooker.

He said a visitor levy would be a small fee that would go towards public services such as night buses and trams, street cleaning and things to make the area better for visitors.

"That money will then be a new source of funds that we can draw on and it'll be a relatively small charge on your hotel room that happens in lots of different European cities," Coppard said.

"I will take a decision about what that overnight visitor levy looks like.

"It will be charged on people coming in from outside, so not local people, and the money will be spent on local services."

In York and North Yorkshire, a report commissioned by regional mayor David Skaith suggested a flat fee of £1 per night could work for the region.

However, he said a full public consultation would take place before a decision was made.

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