By Local Democracy Reporter Daniel Esson
Additional reporting by Gabriel Morris, Local Democracy Reporter
A suggestion for a “tourist tax” will not be taken up by Thanet council – because it does not have the power to do so.
The idea of “levying a modest tourism tax on overnight stays” was put to Thanet District Council’s (TDC) cabinet last night (April 25) as part of a report by the authority’s tourism working group, which was set up last summer.
The aim was to address the impact of visitors on local communities, with the biggest issues being the use of facilities such as public toilets and beaches and the increase in litter and traffic.
The report said: “We want a booming visitor economy but we are acutely aware of the additional costs visitors bring, so we need to make every effort to secure income for the council to set against those costs.”
Other ideas included “ensuring holiday lets contribute to funding the costs they impose and taking a robust approach with Southern Water over beach pollution and exploring opportunities to provide paid-for facilities like beach huts with facilities for overnight stays”.
The group also proposed additional council taxes on second homes and long-term empty properties – which the council has agreed to introduce from April 2025 and which is expected to raise £540,800 for the authority.
The levy suggestion split opinion, some called it a “ridiculous idea” while others praised the chance to “put some money back into the local economy”.
Jane Bishop, owner of the Walpole Bay Hotel, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “In the olden days people came for long stays, we didn’t have the short breaks that we do today, and some people came for six weeks in the summer, so it’s changed.
“We pay business rates, we have to pay for our own waste clearance, our own recycling, as far as Walpole’s concerned we’ve been the public loo in Walpole Bay since 2007, so we feel that we’ve done our bit.
“We’d be the tax collectors for the council when we’re already paying a huge contribution towards the welfare of the town.”
Ms Bishop admitted some visitors generate a cost. She said: “[It’s] mainly the people who come on day trips with Margate because they come down and they bring their music and their food and their booze, and they use our beaches and our facilities all day long, get on their trains and coaches and cars and leave us with all the mess.”
“We want people to come here and we don’t want them to pay through the nose,” she added.
On the streets of Margate, visitors were split.
“I think it is a really good idea,” said Mia, 22, visiting from Bristol.
“I think it’s a good thing, put some money back into the local economy.”
Melinda Richards, 47 and visiting from Australia, added: “I think it’s a ridiculous idea, an added cost on to hotel bills is just stupid. The area does need more investment but not in that tourist tax way, absolutely no way.”
“I think there’s positives and negatives but generally if it helps the local community I think a tourism tax would be good,” said Navaneethan Natarajan, 23, from Birmingham. He added: “Hopefully nothing too big because that would detract people from coming here.”
At last night’s TDC cabinet meeting, however, council leader Cllr Rick Everitt (Lab) said: “This council has no powers to institute a tourist tax and the government said last year that it doesn’t intend to give this council powers to institute a tourist tax.”
He added: “Thanet council will not be introducing a tourist tax.”
Some local authorities have found ways to charge visitors extra. In Manchester, there is a tourist tax of an additional £1 on the cost of any overnight stay through the council’s Business Improvement District (BID).
Liverpool also has one but the cost varies depending on the business providing the accommodation.
“If we were ever to go down that road clearly we would consult businesses and get their opinion,” Cllr Everitt said.
He added that the issue was not overnight visitors who paid to stay in the area but day trippers who often did not contribute to the local economy and sometimes caused issues with litter and public order.
Thanet council spends some £120k per year cleaning beaches. This includes year-round cleaning but is heavily weighted to peak holiday periods.
Opposition Conservative Cllr Phil Fellows attended the meeting and stressed: “No one’s talking about setting up toll booths on the Thanet Way to charge people.”
He added that the aim had been for a small fee for those staying overnight in Air BNBs which did not necessarily contribute through council and business taxes due to relief schemes.
The report into tourism also proposed other measures such as new signage, CCTV, more bins at the district’s beaches and exploring opportunities to provide paid-for facilities via overnight campervan parking and beach huts with facilities for overnight stays.
