Investing levy funds
The underlying rationale for Edinburgh’s visitor levy is that visitors who pay to stay in the city and use public spaces and services should contribute to managing the impact of a successful tourism economy.
The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act (2024) says that funds raised must be reinvested in local facilities and services substantially used by business and leisure visitors.
The levy is expected to raise £45-50 million a year by 2028/29. The money generated by the scheme will be reinvested directly into initiatives that benefit residents and enhance visitor experiences.
After administration and contingency costs, a fixed amount will be assigned to
- housing and tourism mitigation (£5 million annually)
- participatory budgeting (£2m over 3 years)
- reimbursement of 2% of collected funds to accommodation providers, to off-set the administrative cost incurred from collecting the levy.
Remaining funds will then be split across three investment streams
- city operations and infrastructure (55%)
- culture, heritage and events (35%)
- destination management (10%).
The initial spend programmes have been developed by Council officers, informed by feedback from public consultation and industry engagement, elected members and other stakeholders. The independent Edinburgh Visitor Levy Advisory Forum has also been consulted and provided feedback and recommendations on the programmes.
Spend programme proposals were discussed at relevant committees between December 2025 and February 2026. The programmes were formally agreed at a special meeting of the City of Edinburgh Council on Thursday 12 February 2026. You can read our news story announcing the agreement of the first round of Edinburgh Visitor Levy spend. You can also view the full list of agreed spend programmes on the next page in this section.
All investment streams will be formally reviewed alongside the overall scheme in 2029.
Advice on where the levy funds are invested
The Act stipulates that a Visitor Levy Advisory Forum must be set up and that this group must include a balance of
- tourist organisations
- businesses engaged in tourism
- representatives of communities.
This is an advisory group to help inform and shape how the levy will be invested and monitored. View our news articles on the appointment of Julie Ashworth as forum Chair and selection of the forum's membership.
Reporting on how we invest the levy
When we introduce the visitor levy, we will need to report to Scottish Government
- on the amount we collect
- how we will use the net proceeds, that is the amount collected minus costs or expenses of operating the levy
- demonstrate that we are delivering on how we said we would invest proceeds from the levy.