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14/11/2024

Highland Council Agree to 3 month Visitor Levy Consultation

Highland Council have agreed to launch a three-month consultation on a visitor levy.

Earlier today (Thursday 14 November) the Council’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee members discussed a report on a how a proposed Visitor Levy scheme across the Highlands would operate before going on to approve a public statutory consultation.

It was agreed that the consultation will go live tomorrow morning (15th November 2024) and will close on the 31st March 2025

The visitor levy has been identified as a priority action within the Council’s Programme “Our Future Highland 2022-2027”
Committee, Councillor Ken Gowans is encouraging businesses, community groups, and residents as well as visitors to the Highlands to have their say.

Read full press release.


Fiona Campbell, CEO of the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers, said:

“Highland Council must tread carefully with plans for a visitor levy. If they do this, they must do it right.
We have seen that short-term let licensing has been far from plain sailing and the same affected small businesses now look set to become de-facto unpaid tax collectors. The accumulative regulatory impact could cripple businesses at a time when recovery is precarious. However, it is not just operators or overseas visitors who will be impacted but ordinary Scots choosing to visit the Highlands will be hit in the pocket too.

It is therefore imperative that we see a full economic impact assessment to accompany the proposals. Any levy must be set fairly, have good governance and thoughtful implementation at its core, and monies raised ringfenced for tourist infrastructure. Failure to take these steps could result in a levy that erodes the very industry it is supposedly intended to support.”

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