As the owner of four Premier Inn hotels in Liverpool objects to this week’s introduction of the £2-a-night tourist levy, local business leaders Bill Addy and Frank McKenna spring to its defence. Tony McDonough reports
Tourists staying in Liverpool city centre hotels from this week will be charged an extra £2-a-night as a new tourist levy is introduced.
However the charge, administered by the city’s Accommodation BID (ABID) is being opposed by hospitality giant Whitbread, which operates four Premier Inn hotels in the city centre.
ABID, part of Liverpool BID Company, balloted local hotels and accommodation providers in the spring and they voted in favour of introducing the levy which has come into force this week.
It is projected the charge will bring in £9.2m over two years, of which £6.7m will go towards supporting the city’s visitor economy through a subvention fund. This fund provides financial support to major conferences and events.
Whitbread’s opposition to the levy has surprised and disappointed business leaders in the city who believe the move will boost local hospitality businesses. Tourism levies exist in multiple cities in the UK and across the world.
Also speaking out against the tourism levies this week was Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UK Hospitality and chair of ACC Liverpool, which operates the arena and convention centre.
She posted on X: “(A) tourism levy would push up prices to customers, add to the costs of doing business and be yet another tax on a sector that already bears the highest tax burden and is the least price competitive in the world. It would be inflationary, would reduce investment and damage growth.”
Liverpool BID Company chief executive Bill Addy stressed that the ABID levy was “not a tax”. Earlier this week Steve Rotheram, along with other Metro Mayors, lobbied Government for the right to introduce a tourist tax in cities such as Liverpool.
“Local authorities raise taxes, central government raises taxes. This visitor charge is an industry-led effort to boost the visitor economy, to have a say in how the hospitality sector is supported and tackle the challenges it faces,” said Bill
“This has been a process entirely guided by the private sector board of hoteliers – who are using Business Improvement District legislation to make a difference for their industry and their city.
“It’s in the very DNA of BIDs to support business and make cities thrive, and this is at the heart of this. It isn’t a political issue, it’s far more important than that.
“Sometimes there are larger nationals that don’t want to take part in what is a city-centred approach, and that’s clearly their right.
“The value placed in this is by the hotels who have championed it themselves and their hope to create a circular and sustainable visitor economy which – as they have been clear since the ABID first launched in 2023 – is transparent in its investment directly to the visitor economy, and the visitor economy only.”
Group chair and chief executive of influential private sector lobby group Downtown in Business, Frank McKenna, hit out at critics of the levy saying he was “gobsmacked”.
“I’m even more surprised at where some of the pushback is coming from,” he said. “This is not an additional tax on businesses.
“It is a levy charged on tourists who visit the city, with a very focussed strategy in place to ensure that the cash raised through the levy is utilised to support our city’s hotels and wider visitor economy.
“Without this additional revenue, it will be hugely challenging for the city to find the necessary resources to attract major events – such as the Labour Party Conference – which need significant subvention to incentivise them to come here.
“It is not only our hotels, bars and restaurants that benefit from these investments. The M&S Bank arena is a big beneficiary, which is why I find opposition from Kate Nicholls, the CEO of UK Hospitality, who also chairs the arena board, utterly bizarre.
“I will be interested to hear how Kate thinks we will be able to support the arena and a major events programme for the city in the future without a tourist levy.”
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Frank also made the point that the ABID levy replaces a flat business levy fee which has been in place for some time – and was a direct cost to hotels.
He added: “The reason why an ABID in Liverpool is supported by the majority of Liverpool hoteliers is because, since being launched, the initiative has supported 43 events, contributed an additional £1.3m to accommodation providers, and added an estimated £87m worth of economic impact from visitor spend.”