Shadow Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Clwyd West MS Darren Millar has blasted Welsh Government plans for a tax on overnight visitors in Wales, emphasising the detrimental impact it will have on businesses in Conwy and Denbighshire that depend on tourism.
On Monday, the Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill was laid in the Senedd. The Bill provides a permissive power to local authorities to decide whether or not they want to introduce a visitor levy in their local areas.
Responding to a Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language, Mark Drakeford, on the Bill in yesterday’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Darren warned that the new tax will deter tourists from visiting Wales.
He said:
“When you first mooted the suggestion of a tourism levy, I was very angry on behalf of the businesses in my own constituency that might be affected by this tax.
“One thing that we know is that many visitors who come to places like Rhyl, Colwyn Bay, Llandudno, are price-sensitive visitors. They are people who make a choice based on an extra £50 or £60. If someone comes on a holiday and it costs them an extra £84 for a fortnight for a family of four, that's quite a lot of money for those people who are just about able to go on holiday for that year, and people will choose to go to the coasts of the north-west of England rather than the North Wales coast, or they'll choose to go to the Lake district instead of Snowdonia. I'm very concerned about that.
“I appreciate that you have taken some action, which will hopefully protect and reassure some people who holiday in my constituency. So, caravan owners, for example, are going to be exempt, which I appreciate. There are other areas where I think that you ought to look at exemptions.
“We've talked a lot about the fact that many of these levies are charged elsewhere in the world, but there's also a significant differential in VAT in most of those places. That isn't the case here in Wales, and I am concerned that if we're not careful, we will completely outprice Wales out of the holiday market.
“We know that visitor numbers were down last year, 14 per cent on 2019 in Wales, compared to just 4 per cent over the border in England. It is clear to me that this is because of the anti-tourism messages that have been coming from the Welsh Government.”
