As Edinburgh moves towards charging a Visitor Levy the new Visitor Levy Advisory Forum has met for the first time under its chair, Julie Ashworth.
The Forum will advise councillors on the final details of how the levy or tourist tax will be spent and may meet twice a year. It is estimated that the tax will introduce around £50 million into the council’s budget.
The scheme will be managed by The City of Edinburgh Council who already have financial payment systems in place to collect council tax from residents in the city.
Julie Ashworth, Chair of the Visitor Levy Advisory Forum, said: “Edinburgh’s visitor levy scheme has been shaped by years of debate and views from all sectors and communities, and it is in this spirit I’ve appointed a group of people with fantastic experience and expertise from different fields and from civic life. I’m confident we have a really strong Forum in place and we’re excited to get to work.
“Our introductory meeting focussed on ensuring that all members are up to speed with the Edinburgh Visitor Levy scheme, and the requirements of the group itself. Now that Forum members are familiar with this, the real work of advising the Council on levy matters can begin.
“With just over a year to go until the levy is launched, it will be our job to fairly and accurately represent the views of the city, and to encourage the Council at all stages to take these views into account. I’m grateful to every member for coming on board.”
Member of the Visitor Levy Advisory Forum are:
- Lori Anderson, Director of Festivals Edinburgh
- Kat Brogan, Managing Director of Mercat Tours and Co-chair of Edinburgh’s Living Wage Action Group
- Garry Clark, Development Manager, East of Scotland for the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and member of the Edinburgh Tourism Action Group
- Audrey Cumberford, Principal and Chief Executive of Edinburgh College
- Fran van Dijk, B-Corp Ambassador for B Lab UK and Advisory Board member of Green Element
- Neil Ellis, Chair of Edinburgh Hotels Association and member of the Edinburgh Tourism Action Group
- Euan Hamilton, Equality and Rights Network Development Worker for Volunteer Edinburgh
- Terry Levinthal, Director of the Cockburn Association
- Graeme Smith, Regional Industrial Officer, Unite the Union
- Douglas Tharby, Deputy Chair of the Edinburgh Association of Community Councils
- Kirsten Urquhart, Chief Executive of Young Scot
- Alex Williamson, Chief Executive of Scottish Rugby
The City of Edinburgh Council was the first in Scotland to implement the new legislation put in place by The Scottish Government.
- The 5% tax will be charged on overnight accommodation in the city for a maximum of five nights.
- The charge will be applied for bookings paid for in part or in full on or after 1 October 2025 and for overnight stays on or after 24 July 2026.
- There are certain exemptions – for example those who are in receipt of certain benefits and those at risk of homelessness. (Read full scheme for the Edinburgh Visitor Levy below for more details).
- It is expected that the Transient Visitor Levy or Tourist Tax will raise around £50 million each year. The way it is then spent is largely determined by the legislation passed by The Scottish Government which says that funds must be “reinvested in local facilities and services substantially used by business and leisure visitors”.
- Edinburgh has decided to spend the monies raised as follows: 55% on city operations and infrastructure, 35% on culture heritage and events, 10% on destination management. Fixed amounts will be spent on housing and tourism mitigation – £5 million per annum, participatory budgeting – £2 million over three years, and reimbursement of 2% of collected funds to accommodation providers to off-set the admin cost of collecting the levy.
- Setting up a Visitor Levy Forum by 24 July 2025 was a requirement of the legislation and the group must have a balance of membership from tourist organisations, businesses engaged in tourism and community representatives.
- Between September and December 2025 councillors will decide on investment programmes for the projected funds in executive committees
- By spring 2026 accommodation providers will have had to register for the payment platform set up by the council and be trained in using it
- By October 2026 accommodation providers will make their first levy returns for the period from 1 October 2025 and payments to the council.
- The council will then have to report fully on how they have invested the funds.
- The Scheme for the Edinburgh Visitor Levy is set out in full here.
