Tourist tax considered for Cambridge to raise money for benefit of city

A ‘tourist tax’ is being considered by authorities in the city to “make the most” of the visitor economy for residents, the Cambridge Independent can reveal.

Tourism in Cambridge has increased significantly in recent weeks, with the latest footfall figures showing an eight per cent rise in the number of visitors in the Cambridge Business Improvement District (BID) area for the year to date compared to the last year.

Now authorities are hoping to harness that popularity to help boost the tourist economy and fund improvements to the city.

Cambridge City Council deputy leader Cllr Alice Gilderdale, who oversees tourism for the authority, said: “Cambridge really benefits from a huge amount of tourism, and footfall has returned to pre-pandemic levels.

“So we need to work out how we make the most out of the visitor economy for the residents.”

She added that any financial gain from a tourist tax could be ploughed into improving street lighting or playgrounds, for example.

Council leader Cllr Mike Davey (Lab, Petersfield) said: “The tourist tax is something we’re looking at. It’s been floated because we’ve seen that other places have looked at it as well. So first of all we’re learning how they’ve gone about it.”

In April, Manchester introduced a £1 per night tax for people making overnight stays in the city.

The funds generated there will be used for marketing the city as a destination, helping to keep the streets clean and improving the guest experience. Edinburgh, Bath and Oxford have also considered introducing a tax on tourists.

Cllr Gilderdale (Lab, East Chesterton) explained the council was working with Cambridge BID on encouraging visitors to stay overnight in the city, rather than just making day trips.

This would open up an opportunity to impose a tourist tax on accommodation including hotels and AirBnBs.

A charge would need to be brought in via Cambridge BID as local authorities do not currently have the power to impose a tourist tax.

Maria Manion, the new chief executive of Cambridge BID, said the idea of a tourist tax was being discussed by the four partner organisations responsible for Visit Cambridge.

She explained that, like Manchester, they were looking to explore a tax on accommodation but also whether they could draw income from day visitors by introducing a charge for those visiting the city’s museums.

“We’re very attractive to the international market as well as the domestic market,” Maria told the Cambridge Independent. “BID is really focused on extending the length of stay of the visitor. We’re working with regional partners, with the council, the Fitzwilliam Museum and the universities about how we extend that market and how we bring that market in.

“Cambridge is a very attractive day destination but what we’re trying to demonstrate is that it suits a proper city break too. It’s cosmopolitan and it’s historic – and there’s more than the universities. It’s about punting, it’s about the food and the culture, the theatre and the active music scene.”

She said Cambridge BID was working to demonstrate to people “that there is a variety here rather than just historic buildings, which is what traditionally people expect”.

“We’re working to tell the Cambridge story – a city of stories and experiences,” she said, adding: “We will always continue to attract day visitors but what we have to do now is to extend the length of stay and also the dwell time so that we get maximum benefit.”

Maria explained that a ‘destination management plan’ will be commissioned to set out the direction and focus for the Visit Cambridge organisation. Its predecessor, Visit Cambridge and Beyond, the city’s destination management organisation (DMO), ceased trading and went into liquidation in 2020.

The council, in partnership with Cambridge BID, Fitzwilliam Museum Enterprises Ltd and King’s College, acquired the liquidated assets, including the brand name.

Approval for the establishment of Visit Cambridge as a Community Interest Company was then given by the council in 2021.

Maria said: “One of the options that we’re looking at within this commission – a bit like Manchester – is how do we fund this?”

Funds would be needed for marketing and funding the ambassador role, but Maria added that “investment in infrastructure is key”.

“It’s imperative that you have a clean city, you have a well presented city, and you have a city that’s competing internationally – not just nationally but internationally – when it comes to quality and quality of experience,” she said.

Meanwhile, former independent city councillor John Hipkin is in favour of discouraging more tourism.

He said: “What we are landed with is a bill of picking up their litter and the toilets for them and so on, and having absolutely no receipts from them as such. So it’s a lose-lose game rather than a win-win game.

“The dilemma for Cambridge is it is very hard to levy a tax on people who are only day-trippers. I’m definitely in favour of a tourist tax and charging more on hotel bills would be one way of collecting that tax. But with only a few people actually staying overnight in hotels, it’s going to be tricky for Cambridge. And we have, I think, several million visitors a year.”

His suggestion is to tax the tourist buses that regularly bring large numbers of coach passengers into the city.

“I do think the city is being harmed by tourism,” he said. “The colleges can always close their gates and put up railings and so on so that the tourists can’t penetrate them. That means that tourism is basically concentrated in half a dozen streets in the city centre. And those streets are very largely degraded by the great number of people who use them as places of leisure and eating and so on. They’re not regular thoroughfares any more, they have become outdoor markets.”