Background to the work on a Visitor Levy for Edinburgh
We have been considering a visitor levy in Edinburgh for many years. Councillors discussed a visitor levy at a meeting of the City of Edinburgh Council in May 2018. Since then, a series of reports have been considered, including
- in October 2018 from
- our key city stakeholders and partners
- a survey completed by visitors and residents
- in October to December 2018, we carried out a formal consultation with public on a visitor levy for Edinburgh. We reported the in February 2019
- a report with a was considered at the Policy and Sustainability Committee on 22 August 2023
- in November 2023 – January 2024, we carried out an informal survey gathering views from residents and visitors. We reported the to the Policy and Sustainability Committee in March 2024
- on 22 August 2024, the Policy and Sustainability Committee considered a . The draft scheme was approved for the next stage where we will gather views on the draft in a public consultation.
At the same time, we have
- worked with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) in the publication of the report in June 2018
- contributed towards a Parliamentary Committee study in September 2018
- responded to a which was reported in March 2019
- responded to a Scottish Government consultation on the new reported in March 2020
- contributed towards the which is producing guidance for local authorities to implement a visitor levy
- engaged consistently with the visitor economy via the and directly with businesses.