£2 per night visitor levy proposal for Cambridge rejected by hoteliers in ballot

Cambridge BID has been left disappointed after a proposal for a visitor levy that would have brought in up to an estimated £2.6million a year for the city was voted down.

The BID (Business Improvement District) had suggested charging hotel guests in Greater Cambridge a £2 fee per room per night that would be reinvested back into the visitor economy.

Cambridge BID said that would have benefited not only tourists and those in the tourism industry, but residents too.

But hoteliers have voted against the proposal to establish the ‘Accommodation Business Improvement District (ABID)’.

Of the 23 voting businesses, only six voted in favour, with 16 saying no and one vote being invalid.

For the ABID to be introduced, both a majority of voting businesses and a majority in terms of their rateable value would have needed to approve of the move.

The businesses that said yes had a combined rateable value of £2,282,500 (average £380,417), compared to £7,030,750 (average £439,422) of the 16 that said no. The business which gave an invalid vote has a rateable value of £800,000.

The results indicate that larger hotels in particular opposed the idea.

Had the move been approved, it would have come into force on 1 January 2025.

Maria Manion, the chief executive of Cambridge BID, told the Cambridge Independent they were disappointed by the result and would need to reassess their options.

The city’s dedicated tourism body, Visit Cambridge & Beyond, closed down in 2020 during the pandemic.

The ABID would have helped to encourage visitors to Cambridge to stay for longer, which would add greater value to the economy than day-trippers. Cambridge City Council had given its backing to the idea.

When proposing the idea of the ABID, Glen Sharp, chair of Cambridge BID, “Only about 10 per cent of our visitors currently stay overnight and this is something the ABID would look to change. I think it is also really important to be clear from the start that the ABID development is not about attracting more people to Cambridge.”

The levy would have applied only to hotels in Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire with more than 10 rooms and with a rateable value of more than £34,500. Guest houses, pubs with rooms and Airbnbs would not have been included. University of Cambridge colleges with accommodation would have been invited to join on a voluntary basis.

The income from an ABID could also have funded measures such a City Pass for visitors, which would also have helped promote longer stays, as well as improving ‘wayfinding’ for visitors and promoting the area around Cambridge. It may in future have helped fund shuttle buses for visitors too.

Tourism taxes are quite common in parts of Europe and the US, but Manchester became the first city in the UK to introduce a levy when it imposed a £1 charge last year. Other BIDs around the country are understood to be considering following suit, but there have been questions raised by some in the hotel industry about whether additional charges puts them at a disadvantage compared to Airbnb rentals.