Hotels to look at plans for city 'tourist tax'

Ellie Sherrocks, from the Lace Market Hotel, believes the charge will boost tourism in the long run

A major Nottingham hotel has said it is in favour of plans for a so-called tourist tax in the city.

On Monday the city council meeting backed plans for a nightly £2 room levy on short-term accommodation.

It is estimated about 3,160 rooms would be subject to the fee, bringing in about £1.7m a year.

Ellie Sherrocks, from the Lace Market Hotel, said the charge was a "real opportunity" to bring more investment.

Tourism bosses said Nottingham sees about 9m overnight stays a year

"We think it is an opportunity to increase tourism and have more people see the city," she said.

"We believe the investment that is going to come back into the city will increase tourism overall.

"We'd hope to see the money spent on new attractions and working with other tourist bodies to bring more foreign visitors in.

"With the events arenas and sporting venues we have there is a real opportunity to bring more events in with more investment."

Andrew Napier, from It's In Nottingham, said tourism was important to the city

Similar charges are typical in European countries such as Spain, Germany, Belgium and France, but are not currently permitted in the UK.

But some UK cities, including Manchester, Liverpool and Bournemouth, used a legal workaround to introduce a charge on visitors.

The workaround involves the creation of an Accommodation Business Improvement District (BID).

BIDs are non-profit organisations, privately funded by businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, designed encourage investment in the local economy.

'Warm welcome'

Alex Flint, from Nottingham’s BID - called It’s in Nottingham - has helped bring forward the levy plans.

He said: "Tourism is hugely important to the city.

"Here in the Lace Market we have a really good example with visitor attractions like the National Justice Museum and the Nottingham Contemporary.

"We also have bars, hotels and restaurants and of course all the history, so lots and lots for people to enjoy.

"So we need to make sure we are promoting this as widely as possible.

"As well as events the extra revenue will go into the environment of the city, making sure the streets are clean, giving visitors a warm welcome, making sure they can find their way and transport works for them."

Accommodation providers will now vote for or against the plans, with a ballot planned for September.

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