Marc Crothall from the STA suggests the issue is not well understood at a local level.

We want to make sure it is a national conversation in the first instance, Mr Crothall explains.

Mr Greer highlights supporters of the tax argue it would help to fund public services, like refuse collection.

William Macleod from UK Hospital accepts everyone uses public services but argues it would be a discriminatory tax on anyone that uses accommodation.

He says people staying with friends, for example, would not be charged.

Image source, bbc

Mr Macleod from UK Hospitality says he has consistently made the point a tourist tax is an uncompetitive approach, given the UK level of VAT.

He says the cities with a tourist tax have lower VAT.

Green MSP Ross Greer suggests there are separate debates to be had: one about whether councils should have the powers to introduce such a tax; and then for 32 local authorities to decide what is best for them.

Image source, bbc

Fiona Campbell from the Association of Scotland's Self-Caterers replies that it certainly should be discussed in local areas, as well as at a national level, but it must be made absolutely clear those local authorities must make a robust economic impact assessment, "otherwise it could go horribly wrong".

She says she does not believe City of Edinburgh Council have consulted with the industry on a required level.

Ms Campbell says she attended a meeting of the council, which she was not invited too and it wasn't a consultation, it was them presenting what was a fait accompli, basically what they intend to do.

"If the evidence is that it is a good idea, then we have no objection to it," Ms Campbell goes on to say.

SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson notes the UK is one of the few countries that does not offer a reduced rate on VAT for tourists.

He goes on to highlight a split among the tourist industry over whether a levy is required, pointing to AirBnB's support.

Fiona Campbell from the Association of Scottish Self-Caterers says AirBnB has not said it supports a tax, rather that it would be able to easily administer one.

This is not the case for self-caterers and there needs to be work done on this, she adds.

Mr Stewart asks if Mr Crothall thinks the consultation will let him win the argument.

The STA representative argues he hopes all of the evidence will be looked at in a responsible way by the government.

He posits £2 may not be a lot for some, but when you multiply it it has an impact.

Mr Stewart points out other countries in Europe have found the tourist tax successful, but concedes it is not like for like in terms of tax regimes.

Tory MSP Alexander Stewart asks about the involvement of the sector in the discussion prior to the consultation being announced.

He suggests the Scottish government's opposition to such a tax had been strong and this consultation is being viewed as a softening.

Marc Crothall from the STA says it was felt that a national consultation was appropriate, as the industry did not just want to bury its head in the sand and say no.

We have had no direct consultation from the City of Edinburgh Council and Cosla engagement was "virtually nothing", he tells MSPs.

Image source, getty Images

A tourist tax is needed to prevent people being put off visiting the Highlands because they "have to go to the toilet behind a bush", MSPs heard.

Holyrood's tourism committee was told last month the six million annual visitors to the region are worth £1.2bn and support 20,000 jobs.

But they also put pressure on roads, parking and public toilets.

The committee heard a tax would pay for improvements and ensure tourists are not given a bad impression.

Highland Council is among a number of local authorities across Scotland that want to introduce some form of levy on tourists, such as a tax on hotel bedrooms.

The councils say the money raised could either be reinvested in services that help tourism or go towards paying for local services generally.

• Could Edinburgh be next for a tourist tax?
• Taxing times for Europe's tourists
• Look back on the evidence session on Holyrood Live

Image source, bbc

Mr Crothall asks how do you compensate or penalise people coming to Edinburgh when the festivals are not on and are visiting for different reason.

The STA representative argues against the concept that a £3 per person is the price of a pint of beer, saying a family of five paying three pounds per person to stay in Inverness in a small B&B or a Premier Inn, that's £105 extra on my bill.

Every panel he sat on at the STA conference, every person said a tourism tax is not the way to go.

"The world is a small place, Scotland is a very small place, we need to be competitive."

Labour MSP Claire Baker points out the figures Mark Crothall quoted are not on the table, pointing out that Edinburgh Council is talking about £2.

Image source, bbc

Edinburgh City Council plans to launch a consultation on its plans to charge a tourist tax of £2 per room, per night.

It said the tax would raise an extra £11m a year, to be spent on growing tourism and managing its impact.

The council has published details of its proposals for a Transient Visitor Levy ahead of the consultation that will last until the end of the year.

Opponents have attacked the plans and claim there has been no "meaningful engagement" with the tourism industry.

Read more here.

Twitter spat over tourist tax plans

Fiona Campbell from the Association of Scotland's Self-Caterers says the consultation is welcome to ensure there is an industry-wide discussion and a robust economic impact assessment.

Peter Irvine of Unique Events also welcomes the consultation, suggesting there may be voices not being heard.

I came into this debate initially as a board member of Festivals Edinburgh and as the years went by I started to wish the accommodation sector put something into it, he tells the committee.

"Edinburgh is an exceptional case," he argues, and residents are aware of the "extraordinary tide of tourism" coming into the city.

He says a holistic approach should to be taken to respond to this, of which the tourist tax is one part.

Marc Crothall from the Scottish Tourism Alliance (STA) says it was at his organisation's national conference when Nicola Sturgeon made the announcement.

He explains the membership of the STA is 75% of the total industry and when the debate hotted up around the Cosla paper backing the tourist tax, all the people on the group set up by the STA felt this was not something to be rushed without consultation.

Mr Crothall warns there would be less money spent in smaller tourist businesses.

Image source, bbc

There is a marked decline in the domestic market and the ability to spend by that audience is declining, Says Mr Crothall.

He warns that: "As we enter the unchartered waters of Brexit the risk of actually getting to a tipping point where a tax is collected, from that particular audience, could send many businesses over the cliff."

Without analysis and proper assessment of the potential economic impact, it would be very foolish to rush through with taking this forward, he says.

Mr Crothall highlights an erosion of the margin of profit in all hotels across Scotland and again warns of people being tipped over the edge.

Convener Joan McAlpine seeks views on the Scottish government launching a consultation on the tourist tax recently.

UK Hospitality's William Macleod says a whole range of issues need to be discussed and debated before considering the principle of the tax coming in.

I don't think there has been any real assessment of why such a tax would be required, he argues.

And there has been no assessment on the impacts one would have on businesses and consumers, Mr Macleod says.

UK Hospitality recently started looking into the potential impact of a transient visitor levy in Scotland, he explains.

Our view is that a £2 per night per room could result in reduced turnover for £100m for the accommodation sector and and £75m in reduced spend elsewhere in the tourism economy, he warns.

Image source, @GREENTOURISMUK/TWITTER

A consultation into allowing councils to set a local "tourist tax" has been ordered by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Some Scottish councils, led by Edinburgh, have called for powers to set levies on tourist accommodation.

The Scottish government has opposed the policy, but hinted that it could be open to changing this as part of budget talks with opposition parties.

Ms Sturgeon announced the study at the Scottish Tourism Alliance conference.

Read more here.

• Edinburgh 'tourist tax' could be £2 per night
• Could Edinburgh be next for a tourist tax?

Image source, bbc

The tourism committee will now take evidence on the tourist tax, or more correctly the Transient Visitor Levy.

MSPs will quiz:

• Fiona Campbell from the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers, external
• Marc Crothall from the Scottish Tourism Alliance, external
• Peter Irvine MBE, author and founder of Unique Events, external
• William Macleod from UK Hospitality, external

Read the submissions here., external

SNP MSP Annabelle Ewing asks that with Chequers dead, what is plan B for the UK government, saying the professor has just come "from the horse's mouth".

"The only thing I get from party conferences is not knowledge but flu," replies Prof Menon.

Chequers was never an outcome, it was an opening gambit, it was a political signal and it was quite a powerful statement of the fact that the UK government is not taking the Irish border issue seriously, he says.

No-one in the British government expected the EU to to just accept Chequers, he adds.

The EU is just saying "fancy dan" arrangements around the customs union will not fly and he does not see that changing, he elucidates.

That ends this evidence but don't go away - tourist tax is next!

SNP MSP Stuart McMillan asks how easy would it be for the UK to re-join the EU when the economic impacts become clear.

Prof Menon warns against the pro-EU tendency to over-dramatise the economic impacts.

There will be a "hit" to the British economy, he says, but the impacts will be "far more subtle" than they are being made out to be.

Regarding the issue of re-joining, the professor says the UK will have to look to become a member in the same way as everyone else.

It is perfectly conceivable that there will be a hardening of anti-EU attitudes due to a belief that the economy is not performing as well due to the EU "punishing" the UK for leaving, he adds.

He also explains that a potential problem with re-joining is that membership terms may be less favourable than the current agreement, pointing to the rebate as an example.

SNP MSP Stuart McMillan raises comments made by Jeremy Hunt about the EU and a Soviet prison camp.

Prof Menon replies one EU ambassador at the Tory conference said he was disappointed but not surprised.

It's not helpful and it alienates the Baltic states which strikes me as bad foreign policy, he says.

Image source, Getty Images

Senior Europeans called on Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt to apologise for likening the EU to the Soviet Union.

Mr Hunt's comment, during his Tory conference speech, was about efforts to stop members leaving the bloc.

Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt was among MEPs calling for an apology. Some described the comments as "a new level of populism" and far-right language.

Mr Hunt said he was pointing out the EU negotiators' approach was not consistent with European values.

Read more here.