Overview
Argyll and Bute Council is developing a visitor levy (VL) to support tourism as a sustainable beneficial part of Argyll and Bute community life and economy. We want to hear your views to help us shape our draft VL Scheme and formal consultation survey.
Councils in Scotland have new powers to introduce a visitor levy in their local area. These powers come from new laws in the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024.
Many places around the world already have visitor levies. These include Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, New York, Kyoto and Dubai. If Argyll and Bute introduces such a levy, which at the earliest will be the autumn of 2026, the money raised must be used specifically for the benefit of the visitor economy, such as towards making local facilities and services better. Local culture, events and festivals could also benefit.
What is a visitor levy?
A visitor levy is a payment based on the cost of most types of paid, overnight accommodation. Most people paying to stay for an overnight visit to Argyll and Bute will have to pay the levy (exemptions are noted in the Act).
For FAQs see: https://www.visitscotland.org/supporting-your-business/advice/visitor-levy#faq and https://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/my-community/recreation-and-leisure/argyll-and-bute-visitor-levy
What’s next?
The results of this consultation will help shape the draft Argyll and Bute Visitor Levy Scheme.
In addition, a series of workshop sessions for businesses will be arranged towards the end of October 2024 to provide some initial awareness raising and discussions on the visitor levy. Further information will be provided in due course.
You (residents, businesses and visitors) will have another opportunity to give your views on the draft scheme when we run the formal 12-week consultation from late November 2024 to February 2025.
This survey will close on Monday 28th October 2024 at 5pm.
The survey should take around 10 minutes to complete.