Visiting Liverpool in Merseyside, England — the fifth-largest city in the United Kingdom — could start costing travelers a little more than before as government officials devise a strategy to curb overtourism.
Officials are planning to impose a tax on visitors this coming summer, charging nearly $3 (2 pounds) per night per person for overnight stays, according to Liverpool Business News.
The potential tax comes as locals struggle to keep up with the growing number of tourists to the area.
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“The proposal would see the charge, which would be administered by hotels, going directly into the visitor economy and helping to support its growth and development,” said a Liverpool’s Accommodation Business Improvement District (BID) press release.
“It would also go toward improving the public realm, including street cleaning.”
About fifty-four million visitors traveled to Liverpool City Region in 2023, up four million from the previous year, according to the government’s Liverpool City Region Combined Authority website.
The release continued, “This would relieve pressure on the public purse and would ensure that the hotel sector would get a say [about] how the funds [are] spent, helping to drive a more sustainable and viable visitor economy in the future.”
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Liverpool BID predicts the levy would contribute nearly $8 million to the city over the next two years.
Bill Addy, CEO of Liverpool BID Company, said in a release the group has been in close contact with the local hospitality business on the tax proposal.
“It is hotels and serviced accommodation providers who would be administering it … Therefore they should have the final say,” said Addy.
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Addy also said, “The method we are proposing reflects similar models across European cities, which work successfully and, if replicated in Liverpool, will translate overnight stays into major investment in attracting world-leading and world-beating events to the city.”
Other international vacation destinations have implemented taxes in an effort to curb tourism.
Greek officials, for example, are planning to impose a $22 tax on visitors cruising to Santorini or Mykonos, Fox News Digital reported in September.
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And the Maldives in South Asia, known for its clear waters and luxury resorts, has raised a flight tax aimed at tourists leaving the islands.
Fox News Digital reached out to Liverpool BID for comment.
