Introduction
The issue of whether a "bed tax" or "transient visitor tax" should be introduced to Scotland has been raised.  The research commissioned by the Edinburgh Tourism Action Group is available below, as well as VisitScotland's position statement on the subject.

Edinburgh Tourism Action Group (ETAG)
The Edinburgh Tourism Action Group recently commissioned a report into Transient Visitor Taxes (TVT), also known by the term visitor levies, or 'bed taxes'. It is been published on visitscotland.org in order that other businesses across Scotland have the opportunity to read the information and begin, as the ETAG group have, to become better informed on the subject.  There is an introductory letter from ETAG available below.

Introductory letter (Doc kb)

Research

ETAG Transient Visitor Tax (PDF 1mb)

ETAG Additional Research (DOC 52kb)

Results of Customer Survey into Tourism Levies and Visitor Taxes (Powerpoint Document 621kb). Summary  results of a 3-part independent consumer research programme commissioned by ETAG and Scottish Enterprise to measure customer awareness, potential impact of the introduction of a levy and likely attitudes to visitor levies. For more information on this research contact Aileen.MacDougall@scotent.co.uk

VisitScotland position on bed tax
At a time when we have agreed a shared tourism industry ambition to grow revenues by 50 per cent by 2015, we would caution against the introduction of a bed tax which could hinder this ambition and damage one of Scotland’s most successful areas of economic activity.

However, VisitScotland welcomes the debate about funding for tourism promotion and development and the contribution that research such as the Deloitte study into Transient Visitor Tax (TVT) makes to the discussion on bed tax.

Tourism is one of the most competitive industries in the world and although Scotland has a strong reputation and a strong brand it cannot rest on its laurels. VisitScotland would always welcome additional funding for tourism promotion and development and can clearly demonstrate the economic benefits to be gained from such additional funding. However, we believe that a tourism tax in the form of a bed tax, is not in the best interests of the tourist or the tourism industry and not the best way of achieving additional funding.

It is not just hotels and other businesses working directly in tourism that benefit from the visitor economy. A wide range of other businesses – from retail to leisure to transport to restaurants - rely on tourism to boost their income. Tourism does not start and finish at the hotel or guest house door. Tourism really is everyone’s business. We are concerned that a bed tax would impact disproportionately on only one part of the tourism industry and would undermine the sharing of the ambition to grow tourism revenues by 50% by 2015.

Furthermore, tourism is intensely competitive on a global scale so any increase in costs for the Scottish industry that are directly passed to consumers could impact on visitor choice. VisitScotland research shows that value for money is one of the key factors which consumers consider when making choices about their leisure or business trips. Indeed, academic research has also shown that an increased tax on tourism activities will lead to a significant loss in terms of revenue from tourism. This could, in turn, lead to a consequent loss in returns from taxation overall.

Therefore, an increase in the cost of accommodation could potentially deter visitors and have a detrimental effect on an industry which is crucial to the economy of Scotland. Instead of introducing a bed tax that would impact directly on the consumer, damaging our competitiveness, VisitScotland would prefer to see greater consideration of how the gains made from tourism – including through existing taxes – can be reinvested in strengthening the Scottish tourism offer; helping Scotland compete in a globally competitive market.