00:00I think that would be really ridiculous. I can't think of anywhere I've been in Europe
00:07that I've had to pay a tourist tax. I mean, I suppose you pay indirectly, don't you? So
00:11hotels impose a tourism tax and they do that in America and stuff as well. But what form
00:16would that take? Is it on every bill that you pay, every restaurant?
00:22Bristol Liberal Democrats have called for a tourism tax to be introduced in Bristol.
00:27During the latest full council meeting on February the 25th, where the forthcoming year's
00:33budget was debated, the group successfully amended the budget to fund a feasibility study
00:40on introducing a visitor charge. The new tax would allow Bristol's visitor economy to become
00:46more sustainable and improve the experience of people taking advantage of the city's rich
00:53cultural heritage. But what do locals think of this idea?
00:56I suppose they have to do it, experiment with it and see whether it puts people off or not.
01:03You know, I don't know if it happens in other cities.
01:06I think in general, any way for local government to raise revenue at the moment is a good thing
01:10and welcome it. Bristol's a great place to go and visit. And yes, it seems like a sensible
01:16way to try and raise some revenue to pay for public services.
01:19I think for economic growth, I mean, things are pretty tough as it is, aren't they really?
01:22Is it corporation tax, 25%? You know, VAT on everything, you know, tax, tax, tax.
01:29It seems a bit over the top, really.
01:33Legal mechanisms currently exist in England for local authority to impose a tourism tax
01:39and while some areas in England have introduced schemes led by their hotel sectors, a better
01:45way forward for Bristol could be for a scheme that incorporated short-term lets as well
01:52as hotels and ideally includes the whole of the city region.
01:56What do you think it would put people off coming to visit Bristol?
01:59I think people would spend less and, you know, you've got, what was it, ULEZ zones now and
02:05everything else. So, you know, you're making it hard from lots of different angles, aren't
02:08you really? So, what do you want to do? Overtax it and board the place up and, you know, you
02:14lose anyway. So, surely people spending money, lots of tourism, lots of activity, lots of
02:20culture, surely that's a much better tax than lexism.
02:23Do you think it will discourage people from coming to visit Bristol for a weekend?
02:28Might do, yeah. Yeah, it might do. We've got a lot of attractions in Bristol that they
02:34might be coming to anyway, but if they booked to come on a wedding party or something and
02:38then suddenly find they have to pay this, they might not be very pleased, you know.
02:42Do you think people would back it?
02:46I would imagine so. I think ultimately it is visitors rather than locals that pay for
02:51something like this. But I think if it's going back into better public services for Bristol
02:55then it seems like we ought to command some public support.
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