Business Improvement Districts say ‘this is too complex an issue to be rushed’
Bill Addy, who runs Liverpool’s business improvement district, has responded to the Government’s consultation alongside Vaughan Allen of CityCo in Manchester
Hospitality bodies in Liverpool and Manchester have joined forces to urge the Government to take its time over plans for a national “tourist tax” to avoid another u-turn.
Last week hotels and holiday companies around the country – including many in the North – signed an open letter calling for the Government to scrap plans for a visitor levy. The policy, which a number of Northern mayors have indicated they want to take up, allows areas to levy a small charge on overnight stays to raise money for infrastructure improvements and projects that benefit the tourism sector.
Industry body UK Hospitality says it has “serious concerns about the timing and impact of the plans”, warning that the industry is also struggling with rising costs from other Government measures.
Now the Accommodation Business Improvement Districts (ABIDs) in Liverpool and Manchester have issued a joint statement that calls for the introduction of the levy to be at least slowed down.
The statement says: “This is too complex an issue to be rushed and we would urge the Government to slow down and think this through. There has been limited opportunity to speak to the business sector it directly impacts; hotels and hospitality.
“The reason the ABID model and visitor levy works so well in Manchester and Liverpool is because it is private sector led, it puts the hotel industry at the heart of the strategy and it gives them a voice. It took years of work, consultation, talking and planning to get this right. This is a ground-up approach that is generating real economic results for both cities because it has empowered the industry to have a say in the visitor economy.
“Over the next 2-years, the two ABIDs are forecast to invest upwards of £17 million in Manchester and Liverpool, making the cities more appealing to visitors and improving local prospects with more investment, more jobs, greater opportunity and increased pride.
“Instead, as we have said to the government as part of this consultation exercise, the plans for a so-called national “tourist tax” have not given the industry a voice and are too vague, currently. Instead it burdens them with another layer of bureaucracy and taxation. This is a sector that is at the forefront of business rates increases. There is a real risk that a proposal that is not planned out, that disregards the complexity of the situation ends up hitting a city driven regeneration policy and undermines two years of good work.
“We cannot afford another u-turn, we need solid and sound plans to be put in place before any decisions are made.
“We are working with our stakeholders across the UK but we would say slow down, let’s do this right the first time, not have to pick up the pieces further down the road.”
Bill Addy, chief executive of Liverpool BID Company, and Vaughan Allen, chief executive of CityCo in Manchester, have jointly written to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to respond to the Government’s consultation.