Cammy Day , leader of Edinburgh Council, is so dismissive of challenges to the proposed visitor levy. Almost everywhere I have visited that has a levy charges a flat rate of perhaps one pound or a few euros per night. Easily absorbed in a holiday budget.
Edinburgh however, totally oblivious to the fact that money spent on a levy is money that would otherwise be spent on meals or accommodation and the jobs they support, proposes a robber baron’s charge of seven per cent. Mr Day says “tourist expect a small fee”. They do indeed, but on which planet will Mr Day find seven per cent of a hotel bill “a small fee”? It’s daylight robbery and shows both the disdain the council leader has for visitors, and unbelievable greed.
Not content with destroying short-term lets, Mr Day will now kill the hospitality sector and drive tourists elsewhere. He should go away and think again, preferably after reading about the killing of the golden goose. Brian Barbour, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland Tourist tax fair The news that wealthy hotelier Rocco Forte opposes the tourist tax is hardly surprising.
He is a member of the super rich millionaire/billionaire class who find it hard to fathom what the lives of ordinary people are like or indeed how much impact a tourist tax might make on the lives of Edinburgh’s people, providing much needed financial support to maintain the fabric of our beautiful city. Is he worried that people who can afford to stay at the Balmoral couldn’t affo.