Tourist levy should ensure 'burden' of Fringe visitors does not 'rest solely with people who live here'

Tony Lankester said he was in support of Edinburgh City Council’s visitor levy to ensure that Edinburgh residents were not liable to deal with extra costs surrounding the huge influx of tourists who come to Edinburgh during the summer months - but renewed calls for more money from the fund to support the Fringe itself.

This comes as Mr Lankester today warned that the Fringe was “not seeing any” of the levy funds to support venue infrastructure and emerging artists.

However, he argued that the visitor levy should help support infrastructure to cope with the increase visitors to the city during the summer months, particularly during August when the Fringe, as well as other festivals such as the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh International Book Festival, are on.

The council has earmarked some funds from the visitor levy, which came in this month, to pay for more litter bins, new public toilets, increased graffiti removal and improved street cleaning.

Speaking to presenter Stephen Jardine on BBC Radio Scotland’s Mornings show, Mr Lankester said: “First of all, I think the tourist tax, the visitor levy, is a good thing. I think there are a lot of services and a lot of things that visitors to the city expect - and rightfully expect - when they come to a city like Edinburgh and the burden of paying for those services should not rest solely with people who live here.

“So the money to provide those service - and I’m talking about keeping the city tidy, refuse removal, making sure there’s enough bins around town, that public facilities are well looked after - given the massive influx of tourists in August, in the summer, for the Fringe and all the other festivals that take place, that money has to come from somewhere.”

He told The Scotsman the Fringe Society, as well as other stakeholders, had put forward ideas to the council as to how visitor levy money could be used by the festival, but that the ideas had not yet been considered.

The council’s culture and communities committee is due to hold a meeting when the visitor levy is expected to be discussed on 14 August.

The legislation surrounding the visitor levy says that funds raised by the tax must be reinvested in local facilities and services substantially used by business and leisure visitors.