STOP THE NEW ‘HOLIDAY TAX’
PROTECT OUR COASTAL ECONOMY
The Labour Government is pushing forward plans to allow new overnight ‘Holiday Taxes’ in England opening the door for local authorities to charge visitors extra to stay in coastal towns like Bournemouth. ( GOV.UK https://www.gov.uk/.../overnight-visitor-levy-in-england ) For areas like ours, that should ring alarm bells.
Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole and the wider South West depend heavily on tourism. Hotels, cafés, restaurants, attractions and small businesses all rely on visitors choosing to holiday here. Thousands of local jobs and family incomes depend on it too. Yet despite the pressure already facing hospitality businesses, Liberal Democrat run councils have shown growing support for visitor levies and similar schemes.
Let’s be clear, this isn’t just a small extra charge. It risks driving visitors away altogether.
39% of Brits say they would consider holidaying abroad if UK breaks become more expensive.
377,000 jobs in the South West rely on tourism related industries and that’s likely an underestimate.
At a time when families are already struggling with rising costs and businesses are under pressure, this is the wrong idea at the worst possible moment. Taxing people for holidaying in Britain doesn’t support our economy, it undermines it. Bournemouth should be encouraging tourism, not pricing people out of visiting our town.
We need to stand up for:
Local jobs
Small businesses
Affordable UK holidays
Our coastal communities
Please take two simple actions today:
Sign the petition to STOP the Holiday Tax https://tally.so/r/5BdzJo
Share this article and help spread the word across the South West
Together, we can protect our tourism industry and the communities that rely on it.
