Tourist tax for Brighton and Hove could generate millions

12:00pm Monday 13th June 2011 in News By James Wallin

A tourist tax on visitors to Brighton and Hove could see millions of pounds pumped back into the city.

Residents and business leaders have urged councillors to look into the possibility of charging tourists £1 for every night they stay in hotels and guesthouses.

The money would be ringfenced for resident priorities, such as security in the city centre and cleaning the streets.

The new Green cabinet has said they would investigate the creation of a tourist tax if there was support for it.

There are approximately 1.5 million overnight visitors to Brighton and Hove every year.

Roger Rolfe, who has advised Brighton and Hove City Council on licensing matters and represented the Kingscliffe Society at national conferences on the night time economy, said: “A tourist tax could do an enormous amount of good and really wouldn’t be a problem to implement.

“As long as it’s less than the price of a pint I don’t think you are going to deter any of the hen and stag parties. A couple of quid on top of your holiday really isn’t going to make you reconsider your destination.”

Mr Rolfe said the money could be put to a variety of uses, including litter patrols, cleaning and repairs to pavements and signs warning people to keep quiet in residential areas.

Cornwall Council announced last week it was looking into the possibility of imposing a tourist tax, which it says would raise £25 million a year.

But critics have warned the move could damage the county’s tourism industry.

In 2009 the eight million visitors to Brighton and Hove spent an estimated £732 million. However in the same year almost a third of people being admitted to the city’s accident and emergency departments were non-residents.

Simon Fanshawe, chairman of the Brighton and Hove Economic Partnership, said: “ “It has the potential to bring benefits both for tourists and the residents because some of that money could be used to improve infrastructure for tourists and some could go towards easing residents’ concerns, such as policing the city centre on a Saturday night.”

Geoffrey Bowden, Brighton and Hove City Council’s cabinet member for culture, recreation and tourism, said: “The impact of tourists is a fine balance. They bring in a lot of money to our city and we have benefited from our reputation as a destination of choice. What we have to do is to encourage them to behave in a responsible way during their stay.”

Comments(34)

fred clause says...
12:17pm Mon 13 Jun 11

What utter rubbish lets drive away the biggest money maker this City has stupidity of the highest order

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cheezburger says...
12:20pm Mon 13 Jun 11

Aside from the fact that it would probably be illegal and unenforceable you couldn't tax visitors. You would have to tax the hotels. It could generate millions, but just as likely cost millions if it puts tourists off. What a stupid idea. Tourists want value for money!

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gjones says...
12:26pm Mon 13 Jun 11

I agree, it's completely ludicrous. For starters tourism needs to be encouraged not discouraged, and whilst tourist may use the city's service...their expenditure whilst visiting *pays for them*

Cheezburger's point is entirely valid- how would you enforce it except by taxing hotels?

Better to create incentives to contribute than disincentives to visit.

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armyeng1 says...
12:28pm Mon 13 Jun 11

Residents? What residents? Im a resident and I dont support this one bit, its about the dumbest thing that I've heard since the election of David Cameroon to the office of Prime Minister. Firstly, I appose to any tax increases to anyone, are they high enough? Where is the cieling? Once you give government the green light with some idiotic idea like this, there is no end! When will people learn?

Government is a giant vacuum on your financial well being and they are even worse at managing money, why dont we look at ways to cut costs and stop looking at ways to rip people off, yes; its only a pound, but then its two and then its three and then there is another reason and its been that way since bloody tax was invented, may the person with that idea burn in hell eternally!

I voted green and I hope that our councillors are listening and stike this down as a idiotic idea!

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Fercri Sakes says...
12:39pm Mon 13 Jun 11

This is great news. I resent the fact a whole load of my council tax is being spent on tidying up after these people who treat it like a playground.
.
The four commentators above seem to think that everybody will be booking their hen weekends in Bognor as it'll be £2 cheaper. I can't quite see that happening, silly!

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tengri says...
12:45pm Mon 13 Jun 11

How many more failed socialist economic policies is this "green" council going to experiment with?

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notaconspiracy says...
12:47pm Mon 13 Jun 11

This would probably work if we just charge hoteliers £1 per resident per night of occupancy, and they can pass iton as they see fit.

We absolutely DON'T want to have something that gets known as a 'tourist tax', or we WILL lose custom, I think.

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Granny says...
12:53pm Mon 13 Jun 11

Yet another barmy idea to discourage people from visiting Brighton. If this is the best the Greens can do to run our city (into the ground probably) then heaven help us all.

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TheInsider says...
1:17pm Mon 13 Jun 11

So the people who come to the city and spend the most get penalised.
Whereas if you spend a day here, drive a car clogging up the city's roads and park up in a free residential street for the day, you don't get taxed.
This council has serious problems with its messaging.
They have announced they are going to make Brighton the greenest city by putting up solar panels, yet allow people to park up in woodlands and green spaces during the most crucial time of the year for the breeding season of many creatures and protected species.
I am bewlidered by these poorly thought out ideas and strategies which aren't green and aren't equitable.

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Greyrun says...
1:17pm Mon 13 Jun 11

As a business man this does not get my approval, why not just put up signs saying VISITORS NOT WELCOME.

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Sky Lark says...
2:48pm Mon 13 Jun 11

Fercri Sakes wrote:
This is great news. I resent the fact a whole load of my council tax is being spent on tidying up after these people who treat it like a playground.
.
The four commentators above seem to think that everybody will be booking their hen weekends in Bognor as it'll be £2 cheaper. I can't quite see that happening, silly!
Sorry FS but the commentators have a strong point. We are a family of 5 (2 adults and 3 children) and we stay in Brighton every Easter for 10 days - in a self-catering apartment in Hove. We love the place for many reasons and even read the Argus occasionally to keep in touch - If we have to pay £1 per person and per day on top of everything else (including heavy parking charges which we do not resent) well ... yes, we will reconsider our destination. It will represent a big enough amount of money AND above all it has "Tourist trap" written all over which feels somewhat disrespectful. I was happy to read the other commentators' prose. In a way, I would say Brighton wants more people like us to come : we spend our money and respect the place. The yobs and hen-nights etc ?? Well, I suppose they'll still come because it will only be a quid or two extra for them and they won't feel the pinch whereas "real tourists" will reconsider ... not a smart move at all, I think.

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Bob_The_Ferret says...
3:58pm Mon 13 Jun 11

Shouldn't that headline read 'Tourist tax ... would COST millions'!

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patrick burke says...
4:16pm Mon 13 Jun 11

I stay in Brighton several times a year.Each year the parking Gestapo
have made it more difficult and more
expensive to park the car.
A room tax just adds insult to injury.
The lefty socialists who come up with
these ideas will employ an army of
enforcers at the rate payers expence.
These enforcers will harass the local
hoteliers and guest house operators
who will be unpaid tax collectors.
They have enough to worry about in
these austere economic times.Like
how to stay in business.
Socialist councils are great at spending money. They have little or
no idea how it is made.
Brighton your rulers do you no Justice.

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Masterchav says...
4:41pm Mon 13 Jun 11

I'm nipping down to Ladbrokes to put an early bet on the greens losing the next council election with a landslide.

You couldn't make some of their hairbrained policies up!

Good old Nu-Liebour and the Greens have already conspired to stop a cut in council tax this year.... just imagine how much it will be going up next year with all these stupid ideas!

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cheezburger says...
4:53pm Mon 13 Jun 11

If they want to raise money then simply stop spending it on gypos, and maybe even charge them council tax like everybody else has to pay. Or maybe a protestors tax since we seem to have rent-a-mobs almost every weekend. Or better still why not tax any UFOs that fly over our airspace.

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s_james says...
4:56pm Mon 13 Jun 11

I went to Cologne recently and had to pay a similar charge, so it clearly isn't illegal. I didn't notice it "ruining" the city either and there were still plenty of tourists! £1 a day will not make people change holiday destination.

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clearbluesky says...
5:08pm Mon 13 Jun 11

Great idea, it could be called the Fun Tax. If you want to come to Brighton you can't have fun unless you pay the Fun Tax. If all goes well the Greens will have taken all of the joy out of our joyous city in no time at all. Watch this space for the Green tax on personal ambition and the Green tax on laughing. And I thought Gordon Brown was midguided with his Death Tax!

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patrick burke says...
5:20pm Mon 13 Jun 11

They might be nutty enough to bring
back the window tax.A higher window
tax for Sea views. I feel sorry for you
people.

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brunswick63 says...
5:36pm Mon 13 Jun 11

cheezburger wrote:
If they want to raise money then simply stop spending it on gypos, and maybe even charge them council tax like everybody else has to pay. Or maybe a protestors tax since we seem to have rent-a-mobs almost every weekend. Or better still why not tax any UFOs that fly over our airspace.
When you consider Caroline Lucas's bizarre suggestion that Brighton become the UK's premier centre for UFO research, taxing UFO's may not be such a bad thing...

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AngelicDevil says...
7:27pm Mon 13 Jun 11

Taxing tourists per night isn't a new thing and it does work in many other places. Cornwall is looking to bring this in and if you travel over to Canada it's standard practise in many of the states - when on a stay in Alberta this Feb, we were taxed (in total) an extra 12% a night!!!! This was local taxes on tourists and state taxes on tourists!
£1 a night isn't exactly going to break the bank is it?! Esp comparing this to going abroad....

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Hove Actually says...
7:51pm Mon 13 Jun 11

As my AKA is Hove safe to say I live here, BUT still spend the odd night in a hotel with my wife as a treat on a night out, does this mean I will have to pay a Tax to stay in my own town?

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sdhgfhfuyt says...
8:03pm Mon 13 Jun 11

clearbluesky wrote:
Great idea, it could be called the Fun Tax. If you want to come to Brighton you can't have fun unless you pay the Fun Tax. If all goes well the Greens will have taken all of the joy out of our joyous city in no time at all. Watch this space for the Green tax on personal ambition and the Green tax on laughing. And I thought Gordon Brown was midguided with his Death Tax!
When you say 'our joyous city'...it will be the same city, but you will be getting ever so slightly less for your money if you are a tourist.

I'd personally start with a 100% surcharge on everyone who comes to Brighton with deely boppers, L plates or a superhero costume. Also, anyone who comes in from Eastbourne, Worthing and the like just to have a fight on west street, they can all be charged extra. While i'm drunk on power, I'd also like to tax all students who have cars in Brighton, and leave them parked for longer than 10 days at a time because they can't afford petrol until the bank of mum and dad pay down their credit cards.

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brightonparty says...
8:24pm Mon 13 Jun 11

Calm down dears, it's only a tourist tax. Have any of you ever been on holiday? Or even outside of Brighton?
Do you even know what you are getting so worked up about?


Must be something in the water. Either that or you are desperately unhappy with your lives. Cheer up it might never happen.....

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soulbythesea says...
8:55pm Mon 13 Jun 11

As a Brighton resident I think this is an excellent idea. As someone said above I am fed up with my council tax being used to clean up and provide services for tourists. This tax is tiny and will not stop tourists coming to the town.

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Gazza says...
11:17pm Mon 13 Jun 11

Mathematical equation

Less tourist’s = less income to council minus less income to business’s = unemployment ‘ higher council tax, then deduct suicides and other unsocialable activities due to jobs loses = madness.

But the Greens can’t see as far as their egos

There ‘s already a tourist tax being implemented in Brighton at the moment its called ‘’ hefty Parking charges. Fuel duty, VAT on goods tourists buy and all the other blimming hidden taxes we have to folk out for when we go on a one day holiday’ sorry when we can afford to go on a one day holiday may be in 2020. The Green’s have lost the plot. Why not Tax’s bikes and walking on pavements ‘they wear out road surfaces and bus seats more than car drivers.

Yours faithfully
Must have the in thing from IKEA’ stainless steel switches & sockets and wooden flooring ’’not.

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Dr Wombleface says...
11:37pm Mon 13 Jun 11

We've already got a lovely one-way system and high car park prices designed to keep cars out of the city. When will the council learn that we don't need anything else to deter visitors? They spend millions here each year and yet all we do is place obstacles in their way. No wonder local businesses get fed up. The council will prrobably go on about how marvellous the bus lanes, bus services, etc are. Many of the bus lanes such as London/Preston Road were only put in because that way they could claim a Government grant towards the cost of resurfacing the road. The bus services are expensive by comparison to other cities, are unreliable (two or three 5B buses regularly spotted one behind the other - need I say more), they're full up with students in the summer anyway, and we don't have a decent park and ride scheme. Not exactly a great advert for the place I've lived all my life and love to call home. Shame really.

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s_james says...
8:51am Tue 14 Jun 11

Couple of things to consider for those saying this will put tourists off and reduce income (aside from the fact such a tax is common practice in many other places worldwide)

- If the money is, as the article says
"ringfenced for resident priorities, such as security in the city centre and cleaning the streets", then the city would be a more pleasant place and possibly attract more tourists and repeat visitors.

- Are people who get put off by the thought of spending an extra £1 a night really the sort of tourists who would be spending shedloads of money in the city's economy? I think not.

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rolivan says...
8:54am Tue 14 Jun 11

Will Dr Caroline Lucas have to pay this Tax She is a Tourist?She doesn't work as such and please tell me what is She a Doctor of?How did She get involved if She isn't from these parts I thought You had to be a resident.

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brianzey says...
10:15am Tue 14 Jun 11

Green's in power, taxes going up, this is just the start of it. B&H is already one of the most expensive places to live and visit. And as for ring-fencing, well I can't think of a single example where this has ever been done properly.

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WakeUpYouFreaks! says...
10:42am Tue 14 Jun 11

soulbythesea wrote:
As a Brighton resident I think this is an excellent idea. As someone said above I am fed up with my council tax being used to clean up and provide services for tourists. This tax is tiny and will not stop tourists coming to the town.
I agree with you. It seems very unfair that so much of our council tax is wasted on sorting out the mess that the wrong kind of tourism brings to our city every weekend, but the idea of a £1 per head charge to stay in the city is completely ridiculous and no doubt impossible to implement. Why should local businesses be forced to divulge the amount of guests that they accomodate to B&H council? And how will any guest numbers be proved? I would suggest that there are far better ways for the council to pull in tourist revenue. Nearly all of the attractions in Brighton are privately owned... perhaps we should be thinking again about using some of the vacant council owned spaces to create a tourist attractions that will actually make the city a profit and also benefit local residents and schools. Building the ice rink at Black Rock would be a very good place to start, instead of waiting for someone else to buy the lease on the land.

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cojones says...
5:27pm Tue 14 Jun 11

Add this to the parking and the ridiculous price of Drink and Drugs in the town and what it cost for a massage and no one will bother coming here.

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voiceofthescoombe says...
6:28pm Tue 14 Jun 11

how about a lap dancing tax and a sauna tax?

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Trevor_Spoon says...
9:18pm Tue 14 Jun 11

Shortsighted Green idiots.
They'll ruin the city if they're around for much longer.

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left UK says...
11:45am Wed 15 Jun 11

I lived in Hove and Brighton for many years, but must say I would not want to live in Hove or Brighton now. It is such a shame, as B&H was a great place to live now it's just a rat race, and only going down hill.
Just like the rest of the UK. a rip off.
.
SHAME, SHAME, SHAME,

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