Liverpool could introduce a new 'tourist tax' as early as June next year, with businesses in the city set to vote on the proposal. The proposed City Visitor Charge of £2 is being suggested as part of the city's Accommodation Business Improvement District (BID), an organisation representing 80 of Liverpool's hotels and serviced apartments, with the aim of enhancing the trading environment for those who pay a levy for its services.
Hotel and apartment owners are expected to be consulted about the new charge in the new year. If approved, the charge would be managed by the hotels, with the proceeds used to improve the city's public realm, including street cleaning.
The BID believes this would alleviate pressure on council services and give the hotel sector a say in how funding is spent. Currently, Accommodation BIDs are the only way to introduce Visitor Charges, although Liverpool City Council's leader Liam Robinson has expressed his desire for new powers for the local authority to implement a tourist tax to help alleviate some of the pressures the council is facing.
Plans are in the pipeline for a City Visitor Charge which, if approved, would attach a £2 fee to every overnight stay in Liverpool. This novel scheme, set to be managed by the Accommodation BID, aims to bolster business conferences and destination marketing, helping to attract big-ticket events to the city that encourage overnight stays.
It's also expected to fund additional services such as street cleaning and public realm improvements, as well as targeted marketing efforts, reports .
Initiated in January 2023 and backed by an overwhelming 85% of hoteliers and serviced apartment operators in Liverpool, the Accommodation BID already gathers a levy from establishments with a rateable value above £45,000. A slice of these funds is channelled into a subvention fund designed to lure flagship happenings to Liverpool, including the likes of the Labour Party Conference and various trade shows and health events.
To date, the ABID says it has injected £2.2 million into the Liverpool economy, translating to a £77 million economic impact in return.
Liverpool BID Company chief executive Bill Addy said that instead of raising £900,000 a year, a £2 City Visitor Charge has the potential to raise £6.7 million in just two years to support the city's visitor economy. To bring the plan to fruition, members of the city's Accommodation BID will take part in an alteration ballot which could see the City Visitor Charge introduced as early as June 2025.
Mr Addy said: "The purpose of the ABID is very clear in that it is designed to create a fund that is used primarily to attract major events, business, cultural and sporting, to the city. We know that overnight guests spend more money in the city than day trippers so encouraging more overnight stays, through conferences or major events spanning several days, generates a greater income for the city, be that through hospitality, retail cultural venues. Criteria is in place to specifically support business events that will attract business and inward investment to the city, highlighting its knowledge economy and commercial expertise."
"We have been talking with the sector very closely and a City Visitor Charge is something we want them to decide. It is hotels and serviced accommodation providers who would be administering it so therefore they should have the final say. The method we are proposing reflects similar models across European cities which work successfully and, if replicated in Liverpool, will translate overnight stays into major investment in attracting world leading and world beating events to the city."
Marcus Magee, chair of Liverpool's Accommodation BID, said: "This is an alteration ballot, which will ask the hotel industry to change the way we bring in funds. The change in the model is necessary to help the city bring in more events, and Liverpool to compete with neighbouring cities. We are in a competitive visitor economy and it is vital that Liverpool holds its own.
"When we established the Accommodation BID we were clear that the private sector through our accommodation industry must have a say and this alteration gives them the same level of authority over decision making".
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