A UNION is calling for a Scottish city’s tourist tax to be reinvested into public services.
The Living Rent tenants’ and community union has launched a petition calling on Glasgow City Council to put cash raised by a proposed visitor levy towards housing and public service.
Scottish Government legislation allows local authorities to charge visitors for overnight stay and more than £12 million could be raised annually in Glasgow through a 5% tax.
Glasgow City Council is currently holding a public consultation on the tax and spending the funds raised on initiatives promoting tourism and a 1.5% reimbursement for short-term-let landlords, Living Rent said.
Ian MacCorquodale, a member of Living Rent Glasgow, said: “This tourist tax is a huge opportunity for the council to invest in the housing and services Glasgow badly needs.
“Contrary to what the council says, Glasgow is not thriving. One by one our community facilities are being gutted, there are more than 36,000 on social housing waiting lists and more than 3000 children are stuck in temporary accommodation. We can’t go on like this.
“Already this year the council have hiked council tax up 7.5% to pay for the council's funding gap and chief executive salary increases, all while we continue to see cuts to public services.
“There seems to be plenty of money for council executives and tourist industry bosses, but none for homes and public services. This is unacceptable. Tourists are welcome in our city, but the council should invest in improving our city for the people that live here, not just for the benefit of big businesses.
“Tourism does not need more support. Glasgow’s tourist industry already rakes in billions of pounds per year. It is beyond belief to suggest that the £12 million raised from the tourist tax is best spent on vanity projects, advertising and reimbursing short-term-let landlords.”
Living Rent’s petition calls for a tourist tax of 8.5% and alternative uses for the spending including bringing derelict buildings back into community use and reopening community venues.
Plans for a visitor levy have been introduced in Edinburgh, the Highlands and Aberdeen.
Living Rent pointed to the tourist tax in Porto and Lisbon, which saw an increase of visits of more than 20% after its introduction.
Yana Petticrew, Unite Hospitality’s vice-chair and industrial officer, said: “It’s appalling to see that the hospitality and tourism workers who foster and sustain Glasgow’s social and cultural spaces are being pushed out of their homes by skyrocketing rents, gentrification and the lack of affordable housing.
“As low-paid, precarious workers who are often on minimum or zero-hour contracts, it can be a struggle to pay rent and live in the areas that we work in. Many of us are now being forced to live miles away from our workplaces, where we are expected to travel to and from outside the hours of public transport, as we are continuously priced out of Glasgow.
“The tourist tax should be invested into affordable housing to ensure that workers in the hospitality and tourism industry can continue to live and work in the city we cultivate through our labour, and we must see the material benefit of this increase in funding go towards the workers, not the bosses.”
