Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the impact of the Manchester City Visitor Charge on tourism in the North West of England.

On 1 April 2023, Manchester introduced a City Visitor Charge, whereby overnight guests in city centre hotels or holiday apartments will be charged £1 a night per room. The revenue raised from this will fund the new Manchester Accommodation Business Improvement District (ABID), which aims to improve the visitor experience and support future growth of the visitor economy over the next five years.

HM Government does not have any plans to introduce a national tourism tax or a pilot scheme for such a tax in local areas. An assessment on the potential impact of said tax on tourist numbers and tourists’ experiences, including in the North West, has therefore not been made.