Background to the work on a visitor levy for Edinburgh
We have been considering a visitor levy in Edinburgh for many years. Councillors discussed a visitor levy at a meeting of the City of Edinburgh Council in May 2018. They then considered a series of reports which included:
- in October 2018 a report on views from
- our key city stakeholders and partners
- a survey completed by visitors and residents
- in October to December 2018, we carried out a formal consultation with public on a visitor levy for Edinburgh. We reported the findings and set out a position on a levy in February 2019
- in November 2023 – January 2024, we carried out an informal survey gathering views from residents and visitors. We reported the findings of the informal survey to the Policy and Sustainability Committee in March 2024
At the same time, we
- worked with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) in the publication of the Transient Visitor Tax report in June 2018
- contributed towards a Parliamentary Committee study in September 2018
- responded to a national conversation on the tourist tax in Scotland which was reported in March 2019
- responded to a Scottish Government consultation on the new legislation for a visitor levy reported in March 2020.
Read the progress update and draft proposals report which was considered at the Policy and Sustainability Committee on 22 August 2023.