Tourists flock to the Highlands and islands in large numbers every year, putting pressure on local communities and sparking debate about how to fund crucial transport and accommodation infrastructure.
One way of doing that is to tax campervanners and cruise ship passengers to generate revenue which would benefit remote and rural communities in tourist hotspots.
A planned new “visitor levy” in Scotland, discussed in Holyrood on Tuesday morning, gives local councils the opportunity to impose that tax on tourists staying overnight.
A Highland tourist tax would raise £5 million to £10 million a year, according to an assessment carried out by the council in 2019.
Even a tiny amount of a disembarkation charge would make a fantastic difference in some remote communities.
– Highland Council convener Bill Lobban.
But there has been a backlash from some hoteliers and businesses who fear it could place extra pressure on them and put tourists off trips.
Inverness businessman Tony Story, chief executive of Kingsmills Hotel Group, said in May: “I personally find it abhorrent that an industry that is already taxed probably within the highest levels in Europe is to have yet another imposition of tax.”
Local councils are now having their say at the Scottish Parliament on the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, including senior figures from Highland, Western Isles and Argyll and Bute councils on October 31.
Will campers be taxed?
Convener of Highland Council Bill Lobban told MSPs on Holyrood’s local government committee that he supports calls for campervans to be included in the plan.
While campers and motorhomes staying on campsites would have to pay the proposed charge, those who simply park or pitch up would not.
There have already been warnings that the planned new levy could worsen problems with campervans and wild camping in rural communities.
Highland Council supports the introduction of a visitor levy, which is already common in many other European tourist destinations.
Mr Lobban said: “We have to find some way of including campervans in the process.
“It may require a technological solution that maybe we don’t have at the moment, but by having it in the bill, it would allow this to come forward in the future.
“When you consider that between 2021-22, camper van numbers increased by 33% in Highland and those numbers are allegedly increased even further in 2023.
“It’s almost inconceivable that if you have a campervan and you stay overnight in a registered site, and you’re paying an overnight accommodation rate, that you’d also be charged a visitor levy but if you park in one of our lay-bys at the side of the street then you wouldn’t.”
What about cruise ship passengers?
A new levy on cruise ships visiting Scotland was announced on Saturday by Green Party co-leader Lorna Slater at the party’s autumn conference.
The Scottish Greens, who are in government with the SNP, said the new tax would tackle the twin challenges of harmful emissions and the impact of thousands of tourists on port communities.
On proposals to tax cruise ship visitors, Mr Lobban said: “We have 325,000 cruise ship visitors every year.
“Even a tiny amount of a disembarkation charge would make a fantastic difference in some remote communities.”
Western Isles Council, and Argyll and Bute Council, are among the local authorities who expressed support for the principles of the tax.
Mr Lobban said they do not intend to use the funding to hide the “really big hole” they have in their council finances.
Instead they would seek to use it to improve the tourist economy but think there needs to be flexibility.
What is the value of cruise ships?
Beyond the Highlands, Aberdeen has become a magnet for cruise ships and there are plans to receive even more next year.
Port of Aberdeen bosses revealed in September that 57 ships are due to dock at the harbour with bookings already being taken for the next three years.
The £339 million AIDAsol and £254m AIDAdiva, both owned by German company AIDA Cruises, are among those returning as part of its cruise schedule.
The £78 million spectacular Sea Cloud Spirit will dock in the South Harbour on June 28 2024, as part of its For Connoisseurs and Sailing Buffs cruise.
Orkney feels the strain
These are not cheap holidays, and some local authorities will want to find routes to more revenue.
The council and police in Orkney are also looking at how to cope with increased tourism from cruise liners.
We reported last month that there was some friction between Orcadians and liner passengers who used the roads in large cycle groups during summer.
More than 200 ships are expected as part of Orkney’s 2023 cruise liner season. Even more are expected next year, with 253 advanced bookings already made.
Orkney councillors have been discussing ways to cap the size of liners based on passenger numbers arriving at any one time.
Read more about Scottish politics, locally and nationally, on our dedicated page here.
Listen to our weekly Scottish politics podcast, The Stooshie, here.
Conversation