Liverpool to implement £2 overnight 'tourist tax' from this June
Liverpool has approved a new City Visitor Charge.
The proposal to implement a new City Visitor Charge in Liverpool has been approved.
The charge, dubbed the ‘tourist tax’, was adopted in Manchester in April 2023 with overnight guests charged an extra £1 a night fee per city centre hotel or, holiday apartment, room. £2.8m was raised in the first year, with the funds used for marketing campaigns and street cleaning, and Liverpool will now follow suit.
83 hotels and serviced apartments operating in the city were asked to vote on the new City Visitor Charge as part of the city’s Accommodation BID (ABID). The ballot saw the change supported by 26 votes to 18 against on a 53% turnout.
The City Visitor Charge will see a £2 levy plus VAT added onto each overnight stay in the city from June 1 this year. The levy will only be payable in respect of hotel or serviced accommodation with a rateable value of £45,000 or more.
The charge will go directly into the visitor economy to support its growth and development. It would also go towards improving the public realm, including street cleaning.
Councillor Harry Doyle, Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet member for Culture and Visitor Economy, said: “The “Yes” vote for an extension of the BID to create a visitor charge is a great vote of confidence in the growth of our successful visitor economy. I want to thank all the businesses that participated in the ballot.
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“Their positive support delivers a huge boost to Liverpool’s tourism sector and our major events programme, supporting jobs and investment to benefit local people, and showing how Liverpool continues to offer a warm welcome to visitors from around the world.
“This a positive step and lays solid foundations in our endeavour to formalise the establishment of a sustainable Tourism Tax, akin to what is being looked at in Glasgow and has already been introduced in other major European cities, which would be used to further strengthen our tourism offer.”