Online Business Briefing: Visitor Levy for Edinburgh Consultation

In this dedicated session for accommodation providers, tourism & hospitality businesses, Elin Williamson, Head of Business, Growth and Inclusion at City of Edinburgh Council (CEC), will present the draft Visitor Levy for Edinburgh scheme, which is now open for consultation.

This event is part of the Council's formal consultation activity, and presents an additional opportunity to ask questions on the scheme and to have the views of your tourism business represented.

Please familiarise yourself with the current draft plans and prepare any questions that you may have, as there will be an opportunity to ask Council officers working on the project questions at the end of the presentation.

This event is for tourism and hospitality businesses across the city and beyond.

N.B. This event will be hosted on Teams. Joining instruction will be issued closer to the date.

Don't forget to fill out the Council’s questionnaire on the Visitor Levy for Edinburgh before Sunday 15 December. It's vital that our industry have a strong number of responses to ensure our collective voice is heard. The survey takes around 20 minutes to complete: .

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Background on A Visitor Levy for Edinburgh
The City of Edinburgh Council is planning to introduce a visitor levy on paid, overnight stays in the city.
The Council has written a draft scheme using feedback from visitors, residents and businesses. Now we’re seeking your views to help shape the final version, which will be in place from July 2026.

Tourism is essential to Edinburgh’s economy and supports 37,000 jobs in the city. We want to reinvest in the city and raise money for new initiatives for people visiting, living and working here. A visitor levy could raise up to £50 million every year to do this.
The proposed visitor levy would mean a 5% charge on the first seven nights’ stay in all types of paid overnight accommodation.

The money could be used to:

• keep Edinburgh clean, green, safe and well maintained
• support culture, heritage and events
• develop tourism in local communities
• support the visitor economy
• build social housing and housing for people working in the visitor economy.

Find out more on the Council webpages.

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