The general idea in France, at least, is specifically to cover some of the extra costs incurred by the local authority - roads and parking, cleaning and rubbish bins, and the like. Otherwise these are paid by the residents, only a few of whom make money off those visitors which could be taxed as an alternative.
That's not all their costs for visitors, and in some places day trippers (who don't pay it) are more important. But that's just a further problem, as yet unsolved. The visitor tax is seen as addressing part of the shortfall, at least.
However, I don't think that is why it's found favour with Andy and his supporters in Andyland (Andymia?). I think its real attraction as something to do at once is that it is (and can only really be) a local tax, paid to local government. And devolution is one of his Big Ideas, perhaps the biggest, and needs a lot of locally raised government revenue.
Since the plan requires local taxes, set and controlled locally, a block grant doesn't have the right look and feel. Shifting existing taxes over (or down) to local level will not be easy, involving undoing current arrangements to remake them, and replacing lost revenu in some cases.
So a new tax is more attractive, even if it is quite small in revenue terms and so makes almost no contribution to the financial autonomy of local governments. The idea's the thing! But I don't think the need or desire to tax visitors because they must have money to be taxed is important here.
Agreed. I have been trying to quantify hotel rooms / overnight guests in Wiltshire and it's not an easy piece of research!.
https://www.visitwiltshire.co.uk/dbimgs/Press%20Release%20-%20ACCOMODATION%20REPORT%20HAS%20REVEALED%20SALISBURYS%20POTENTIAL%20FOR%20FUTURE%20INVESTMENT%20AND%20DEVELOPMENT%20-%20FINAL(1).pdfAs part of its strategy to grow Wiltshire’s visitor economy, VisitWiltshire commissioned
hotel development consultancy, Hotel Solutions, to deliver a Hotel & Visitor
Accommodation Study for Salisbury and the surrounding area. The study revealed that there
is currently a supply of *198 visitor accommodation establishments operating 2,900
bedspaces, with a further 236 accommodation businesses in the surrounding 10-mile area,
offering an additional 3,600 bedspaces. This data takes into account all forms of
accommodation, with hotel and touring caravan and camping provision dominates the
current supply.
In 2018, occupancy rates were good across all accommodation types with four-star hotels
achieving on average, 74.3 per cent occupancy rate, which grew in 2019 to 75.4 per cent.
Growth indicators predict strong growth in 2020 in leisure tourist demand, as well as
potential for an increase in corporate demand.
Out of date, and just one part of the county. A 20 year old study suggests that 10% are business visitors.
6500 bed spaces, 75% occupancy, suggests about 1.5 to 1.7 million taxable overnight stays per annum within 10 miles of Salisbury a decade ago ...
>>> 6500 * .75 * .9 * 365
1601437.5
Let's call that £3 million income, with goodness only knows what proportion of that being spent on the actual collection.
Interesting to note figures of about 1.3 million per annum visiting Stonehenge - goodness only knows what proportion of them are day visitors to the county, what proportion stay locally, and indeed how many are local residents in the council tax catchment anyway.
All these thoughts ignore age issues - and on a recent visit to Stonehenge, I noted a high proportion of school / college groups ...
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