Visitor Levy Bill Consultation Response Guide for the Tourism Industry in Scotland

The ASSC encourage businesses to respond to this important consultation…

The Visitor (Levy) Scotland Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on 24th May 2023. The Bill gives Scottish local authorities the power to introduce an additional charge on overnight stays in most types of visitor accommodation.

Accommodation providers will be responsible for collecting the levy from visitors and paying it to their local authority on a regular basis. The Bill is currently at Stage 1 in the legislative programme and the Scottish Parliament’s Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee has been appointed as the lead committee scrutinising the Bill. As part of the Committee’s consideration of the Bill, it has launched a Call for Views from the tourism and hospitality sector.

The deadline is Friday 15th September 2023, after the Scottish Tourism Alliance (STA) negotiated a deadline extension for the sector.

There are two ways to submit evidence to the Committee:

• A detailed response that has 13 main questions, although respondents are not expected to necessarily answer all of these. The ASSC encourages businesses to respond this way if they have the time to do so.
• Brief and general comments about the Bill on the Committee’s engagement website, which includes the option to upload video and audio messages. The ASSC would encourage businesses to contribute to the platform if they do not have time to submit a detailed response.

You can link to a visual guide, produced by the STA below. This provides an easy-to-read summary of the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill under themed headings. It also provides the tourism and hospitality sector with a helpful guide to responding to the Call for Views, with key text highlighted in purple and prompt questions in some sections to help inform your response.

Although the ASSC and the STA will be submitting a response on behalf of the sector, it is still of utmost importance that as many tourism and hospitality businesses as possible contribute to this consultation process, to ensure that any visitor levy introduced in your area works best for you.