Andy Burnham wants a 'proper' tourist tax on visitors to Greater Manchester
The mayor said on Thursday (February 20) that he wants to see the city centre's unofficial 'tourist tax', an optional fee called the 'city visitor charge', replaced by a mandatory tax.
Currently, anyone staying in a city centre hotel is asked to pay £1-per-night to fund Accommodation Business Improvement District (ABID) organisation, which promotes Manchester as a destination, and does extra street cleaning around hotels.
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This should be replaced by 'a proper levy', according to Andy Burnham, who said 'no' when asked if it would apply to existing Greater Manchester residents staying in city-region hotel.
'We would like it to be a proper levy. I would like a scheme that's mainly about visitors to Greater Manchester,' he told BBC Radio Manchester.
'People pay their council tax and they do not generally stay in hotels. I know it happens but largely it's about people coming into the city-region.
'I am putting the case to the government for a tourist levy. Edinburgh has brought one in. I think Glasgow have voted to bring one in. Wales are looking at it as well.'
The mayor also argued Brits going abroad pay a tourist tax when visiting some European countries, so others should pay to stay here. He added: 'In an era where we are struggling to raise funds from the public here it feels right to me [when there's] the levy British tourists pay in France, Germany, and Italy… why should people from there not pay one?'
In its first year, the city visitor charge raised around £2.8m, and the ABID said it had not received any complaints from guests via hotels in the scheme.
According to Kumar Mishra, speaking as general manager of The Edwardian hotel last year, the fee helped to secure large-scale conferences and events and provided specialist training for accommodation operators on counter-terrorism and security as well as paying for more street cleaning in the city centre.
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