Hotels and B&Bs: Tell North Yorkshire Council What The Visitor Levy Would Mean For You
You will have seen that regional mayors in England are to be given the power to charge a levy on overnight stays, and that the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, David Skaith, has said he intends to use it. If a levy goes ahead, hotels, guest houses and bed and breakfasts across the Harrogate district will be the businesses that collect it.
Before anything is decided, North Yorkshire Council (Tony Watson - Visit North Yorkshire) is gathering the views of the tourism and hospitality sector so that it can respond to the Mayor. The Chamber has offered to help with that, and we want to make sure the accommodation businesses of Harrogate, Knaresborough, Ripon, Pateley Bridge, Boroughbridge, Masham and the surrounding villages are heard directly rather than second hand.
To be clear, this is not a campaign. The Chamber is not putting forward a position in this exercise. We want your opinion, whether you are in favour of the levy, against it, or undecided, and we want the practical detail that only you can give: what it would mean for your bookings, your systems, your staff and your guests.
The survey takes about five minutes, please contact chiefexec@harrogatechamber.co.uk and request the link. Please complete it by 5pm on Tuesday 22 September, so that we can collate the responses and submit them to the Council ahead of its own deadline of Friday 25 September.
Attached is a short fact sheet setting out what has actually been proposed, what is still undecided, and what neighbouring areas are doing. We hope it helps you form your own view.
Your response will be anonymised in what we send to the Council unless you tell us you are happy to be named. You do not need to be a Chamber member to take part, and please do forward this to any other accommodation business you know.
If you would rather talk it through than fill in a form, reply to this email or call the office and we will take your comments down.
Thank you for your time. We know it is in short supply at this point in the season.
