MS, Cabinet Secretary for
Finance and Welsh Language and MS, Cabinet Secretary for
Economy, Energy and Planning: In July's legislative statement,
the First Minister announced two Bills to support tourism and
local communities. One Bill will give local authorities the power
to introduce a visitor levy and the other will regulate visitor
accommodation.
Today we are updating Members about these Bills.
Subject to the Llywydd's determination, the Visitor Accommodation
(Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill will be introduced to the
Senedd on 25 November.
This Bill proposes giving local authorities the power to
introduce a visitor levy, which will be a small charge paid by
people staying overnight in visitor accommodation. The levy will
raise additional funds for local authorities to support the
long-term sustainability of our tourism industry. Each local
authority will be able to decide whether to introduce a visitor
levy in its area, based on local circumstances.
One of the Welsh Government's tax principles is that our taxes
should be developed through collaboration and involvement.
Through consultation, continued engagement and the discovery work
led by the Welsh Revenue Authority, we have received consistent
feedback that we need a form of registration in place to support
the levy. This has informed our decision to include a national
register of all those providing visitor accommodation in Wales
within the Bill.
We have previously consulted on a statutory licensing scheme for
visitor accommodation in Wales as a means of helping to establish
a level playing field and to ensure visitors have confidence in
the high-standards available throughout Wales. The registration
scheme proposed in the Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy)
Etc. (Wales) Bill is the first step towards that scheme.
We will be bringing forward the second Bill to move us towards a
statutory licensing scheme and enable visitor accommodation
providers to demonstrate how their accommodation meets certain
conditions. We will continue to discuss and engage with tourism
stakeholders, accommodation providers and local authorities as we
progress these proposals.
