Travellers heading to Edinburgh will be required to pay tourist tax from 2026. There will be a 5% levy on hotel stays, bed and breakfasts, self-catering accommodation as well as rooms and properties let through websites like Airbnb. As if Edinburgh wasn't expensive enough...
Tourist tax is essentialy a fee that visitors to certain destinations need to pay in order to visit. This is mostly done to combat over-tourism, and to capitalise on growing tourism numbers, leading to infrastructure improvements.
City of Edinburgh Council has said the levy of 5% will take effect from 24 July 2026 and the revenue earned will be spent on infrastructure improvements across the city of Edinburgh.
Some businesses are concerned that it will put visitors off visiting the city and that it is being rushed in before systems are ready.
Those who back the tax believe that it will lead to cleaner streets, quicker removal of graffiti, better environmental improvements, more attractive spaces and better transport connections. Sounds good on paper, right?
While some business owners fear that this may affect Edinburgh's "competitiveness" as a destiantion. But other European cities where a tourist tax has been introduced - such as Amsterdam - say they have not lost visitors and have seen many benefits.
We will have to wait and see how this goes down, but we want to know, what do you think about it?
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