WATCH: Inverness Chamber of Commerce CEO Colin Marr calls on Highland Council to ‘pause’ the visitor levy to ‘create a model that genuinely supports the future of Highland tourism - rather than damaging it’
Towards the end of 2024, the four Highland-based Chambers of Commerce came together to urge Highland Council to pause its plans for a Visitor Levy - often referred to as a “tourist tax.”
Inverness Chamber of Commerce works closely with our colleagues at West Highland and North Highland Chamber and Cairngorm Business Partnership and between us we represent over 1,200 businesses. We cannot remember an issue that has provoked such widespread anger and frustration among our members.
At that time, Highland Council was on course to make a decision on implementing a levy in May 2025. To its credit, the council extended its consultation period and agreed to delay a final decision. But almost a year later, many of the same concerns remain unresolved - and now the prospect of a December decision is again looming, despite the fact that neither the public consultation analysis nor the independent economic impact assessment has been published.
When we survey our members – which we’ve done three times now – the results are consistent. A slim majority agree in principle that a Visitor Levy could be a fair way for The Highland Council to raise funds to tackle tourism-related pressures. But every single one rejects the version currently proposed by the Council.
There are good reasons for that. The 5% levy (effectively 6% once VAT is applied) is too high and should be a flat rate, not a percentage. It should be collected directly by the Council rather than added to accommodation providers’ turnover - which unfairly inflates their tax burden. Above all, there still isn’t a proper plan for how the revenue would be reinvested to actually support the tourism sector that funds it.
We also asked the Council to commission a fully independent economic impact assessment - and to their credit, they did. But the work isn’t finished, and without that evidence there can be no informed debate. We are rapidly running out of time.
It’s also clear that legislation itself is not yet fit for purpose. The current Scottish Government framework only allows a percentage-based charge and requires accommodation providers to collect it. Highland Council has previously argued for a flat-rate model and wrote to the Scottish Government seeking that change. Now, the Minister for Public Finance, Ivan McKee, has written to Inverness Chamber confirming that the Government is “open to exploring legislating to provide greater flexibility for local authorities to choose the basis of charge used on a local visitor levy scheme.”
This is an important shift - and it makes proceeding now even harder to justify. If the Council presses ahead in December, it will be doing so knowing that the national legislation may change within months, allowing for a fairer, more practical scheme.
This Thursday, Highland councillors will see a report that lets them know that the analysis of the public consultation and economic impact assessment aren’t complete yet. But we understand that there remains an intention to put forward a proposal for agreement to Highland Council on 11 December. We are all running out of time to review these reports ahead of that meeting.
The message from the business community is therefore a simple one: pause, don’t push through. Take the time to review the evidence, understand the consultation results, and work with industry to create a model that genuinely supports the future of Highland tourism - rather than damaging it.