The Scottish Tourism Alliance (STA) is disappointed that Edinburgh City Council has proceeded to launch a consultation on its plans to charge a tourist tax of £2 per room, per night, having had no formal or meaningful engagement with Scotland’s tourism industry to date.
The Scottish Government has been consistent in its position that it has no plans for a tax on tourists and that the interests of the hospitality and tourism industry must be fully taken into account through consultation.
The STA has requested that a formal stakeholder consultation takes place at national level, initiated by the Scottish Government. We reiterated our request at a recent meeting with Fiona Hyslop MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, and again by letter to the Cabinet Secretary this week.
The time has come for an objective, well-informed national, rather than local debate following the conduct of independent research. We look forward to receiving more detail in response to our request from the Scottish Government.