City tourist tax could fund Abba-style Beatles show

Metro mayor Steve Rotheram is a big fan of the fab four

Liverpool's new tourist tax could fund a Beatles version of Abba Voyage - the digital virtual show that reunited Sweden's pop luminaries.

Steve Rotheram, Liverpool City Region (LCR) mayor, who has campaigned for the overnight tourist levy since 2017, said he had been "looking at ways" since then in which "we might be able to deliver something similar but not identical to the Abba Voyage experience in London".

"Just imagine if we could do something that features perhaps a local four-piece beat combo that did okay from these parts?" Rotheram said.

Rotheram said every pound raised would help fund cultural events as well as increase the number of visitor centres for tourists.

People staying overnight in Liverpool have already paid a voluntary £2 per night City Visitor Charge since June but the new compulsory levy, which the government has authorised, will be introduced once the current scheme expires in 2027.

Two key differences will be that it will cover the entire LCR and is set to include properties rented through Airbnb.

Abba's virtual show has a base in London

The Local Democracy Reporting Service says Rotheram believes a cyber Beatles showcase could be major attraction with an arena similar to the Abba Arena, the purpose-built venue in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London.

He said: "We could have an immersive experience so people would flock in to see them. It means the footfall would increase exponentially, it means that this would be an international destination of choice.

"You'd go here and then perhaps go to London, whereas currently a lot of people go to London and sometimes jump on a train to come here, so we want to change that dynamic and I think this will be one of the ways in which we do it," Rotheram said.

He said the introduction of the tourist tax would also go a long way towards supporting major events that the city can host, like the hugely successful Eurovision Song Contest in 2023.

Abba's £140m London show, which features digital depictions of the group as they appeared in 1979, known as Abbatars, is accompanied by a 10-piece live band.