The £2 nightly levy is designed to “help turbo charge tourism and visitor economy.”
Liverpool is set to introduce a £2 ($2.60) per night City Visitor Charge on hotel stays beginning in June 2025. The initiative, approved by a ballot of 83 hotels and serviced apartments under the Liverpool Accommodation Business Improvement District (BID), aims to reinvest in the city’s visitor economy.
Unlike traditional tourist taxes, this charge is structured as an extension of the existing BID levy, allowing hotels to recoup the cost directly from guests. The Liverpool BID Company, which manages the Accommodation BID, will administer the funds to support marketing efforts and attract major events to the city. CEO Bill Addy stated that the £2 nightly levy is designed to “help turbo charge Liverpool’s tourism and visitor economy, helping the city attract bigger events [that] bring people to the city.”
The Accommodation BID anticipates generating £9.2 million ($12.33 million) over two years, with £6.7 million allocated to the city’s tourism and visitor economy. Chair Marcus Magee emphasized that this measure enables the hospitality sector to have a say in the city’s decision-making regarding the visitor economy, which is vital to Liverpool’s vibrancy and economic health.
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This move follows Manchester’s implementation of a £1 per night tourist tax in April 2023, which raised £2.8 million in its first year to fund marketing campaigns and street cleaning. Similarly, Edinburgh is set to introduce a 5% tourist tax on accommodation costs starting July 2026, projected to raise up to £50 million annually for city improvements. European cities like Amsterdam, Venice, and Barcelona have long employed tourist taxes to manage overtourism and fund infrastructure.
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Other cities in the U.K. are also implementing their versions of a tourist tax. In 2023, Manchester became the first city in the U.K. to introduce a tax of £1 per night. It was also a result of a vote by hoteliers who agreed to implement it and use it towards the visitor economy. The Manchester Accommodation BID was formed in 2023 to administer the funds, and the body represents 74 hotels and service apartments. In its first year, it raised £2.3 million from visitors.
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This year, Edinburgh became the first city in Scotland to approve a tourist tax after the city council voted yes on the proposal. From July 2026, it will charge a tourist tax of 5% of the accommodation costs, and the revenue will be used to improve the city’s infrastructure. Hotels, apartments, Airbnbs, and bed and breakfasts will be covered by this. The tax is expected to raise £50 million per year. Meanwhile, Glasgow is also currently deliberating on it.
European cities such as Amsterdam, Venice, Rome, Barcelona, Berlin, Paris, and Porto charge a tourist tax. Amsterdam has one of the highest tourist taxes in the world—it asks guests to pay 12.5% of their accommodation costs as a tourist tax. Venice recently announced an expansion of its daytripper charge—a last-minute stop in the city can cost daytrippers as much as €10 ($11.40) on holidays and weekends between April and July this year. Overnight guests are not required to pay this tax since they pay a tourist tax on their hotel bill.
As more cities adopt such levies, Liverpool’s City Visitor Charge represents a growing trend of utilizing tourism-generated funds to enhance local economies and infrastructure.
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