This Spring, Liverpool’s hotels voted in favour of an overnight visitor charge of £2 per night per room/unit (plus VAT where applicable) to help to support investment in the visitor economy.

That came into force on 1st June.

Clarity is really important. This is not a tax. Local authorities raise taxes, central government raises taxes. This visitor charge is an industry led effort to boost the visitor economy, to have a say in how the hospitality sector is supported and tackle the challenges it faces. This has been a process entirely guided by the private sector board of hoteliers – who are using Business Improvement District legislation to make a difference for their industry and their city.

It’s in the very DNA of Business Improvement Districts to support business and make cities thrive, and this is at the heart of this. It isn’t a political issue, it’s far more important than that.

Sometimes there are larger nationals that don’t want to take part in what is a city-centred approach, and that’s clearly their right.

The value placed in this is by the hotels who have championed it themselves and their hope to create a circular and sustainable visitor economy which – as they have been clear since the Accommodation BID first launched in 2023 – is transparent in its investment directly to the visitor economy, and the visitor economy only.

View the Accommodation BID Alteration Business Plan here