Rebecca Evans MS, Minister for Finance and Local Government
"Today (30 March 2023) I am providing an update about our proposal to provide local authorities with the power to introduce a discretionary visitor levy. A levy would be a small charge paid by people staying overnight in commercially-let accommodation, raising new money to be re-invested in local areas.
This work is being undertaken as part of the Co-operation Agreement with Plaid Cymru.
A public consultation closed on 13 December 2022. It explored the proposed design of the visitor levy and how it could operate on a practical level. An independent report of responses was commissioned in January, and I am today publishing these consultation findings visitor-levy-summary-of-responses, alongside a consumer research report, which explored views among the public about a visitor levy.
We received more than 1,000 responses to the public consultation, and I am grateful to everyone who responded and their feedback. I recognise the concerns raised by representatives of the tourism sector and I want to reassure business owners we are committed to supporting businesses through current economic challenges.
We will be proceeding with legislative proposals which enable local authorities to raise a visitor levy in their areas. As we develop the visitor levy policy, we will consider the consultation responses to help shape a proposal that works well across Wales."
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