Labour suffers new hammerblow after public fury on 1 new tax | Politics | News
Greater Lincolnshire, including Skegness, will not impose a tourist tax, the county’s mayor says (Image: Getty)
Nearly 6 in 10 Britons do not support the introduction of a holiday tax, as Labor warns the tax could delay holidays in England. Earlier this year, the government consulted on giving mayors with strategic authority across England the power to create local overnight visitor taxes.
Holidaymakers staying in hotels, bed and breakfasts, campsites and self-catering facilities may face a fee in addition to short-term nightly accommodation rates. The new survey of 10,005 people by Stack Data Strategy for trade body UKHospitality found that 56% of British adults oppose a visitor tax, with just 24% in favour.
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Nearly 60 per cent of British adults oppose a UK visitor tax, according to a new poll (Image: Getty)
Nearly 18% of respondents think they will be stopped from booking holidays in the UK if new taxes increase costs.
Modeling suggested opposition stood at 59% in Greater Lincolnshire, where Reform UK’s Dame Andrea Jenkyns won the mayoral seat last year, which includes Skegness and Mablethorpe on the North Sea coast.
Last week, Dame Andrea announced that the region would not introduce a so-called tourism tax, saying it would “hurt families’ pockets”.
Elsewhere on the coast, opposition stood at 58% in Devon and Torbay and 57% in Hull, East Yorkshire and the North East.
Opposition was lower in the West of England, including Bristol and Bath (53%, 27% support) and London (51%, 28% support).
Allen Simpson, chief executive of UKHospitality, said the vote was “a wake-up call for every MP willing to support the holiday tax”.
He said the majority of his voters were against the plans, which he said would “deter millions from holidaying in England” and would “hit hardest the families the Government says it wants to help”.
“In her statement in the spring, the Chancellor (Rachel Reeves) said being able to pay for a holiday should never be too much to ask, but this tax is putting holidays out of reach for many,” he said, adding: “Let’s keep holidays relaxing, not taxing them.”
Reform UK Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick said none of the party’s mayors would impose the “horrible tax”, which he claimed would be the “death knell for many seaside resorts”.
The government said the tax would bring UK destinations on par with tourist centers such as New York, Paris and Milan, which already charge a tourist tax.
The aim is to invest money from the tax into local transport, infrastructure and the visitor economy, potentially attracting more visitors.
A Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman said: “This survey is based on speculation.
“The final design of the visitor tax has not been decided.
“We are confident that the tax will enable regions to benefit more from tourism and mayors will have more money to invest in local priorities.”
