Laura Tension, who recently won the award for Wales’ best self-catering holiday destination for her business, Wonderful Escapes at Wern y Cwm Farm, said the Welsh Government’s plan to charge a tax for holiday accommodation would not help anyone.
It was proposed this week that businesses would pay an additional £1.30 per person per night, up from the original £1.25.
“It will have absolutely no benefit whatsoever to us as a successful hospitality business in Wales or those coming to visit us,” she said.
It would be for local authorities to decide whether to charge the tourism tax if the plans make it through the Senedd, with charges possibly being enforced in 2027.
“The council won’t even come to collect our bins here,” she told us.
“If they find themselves able to charge another tax and choose to do so, it will just be another cost that we don’t see a return on.”
Finance Secretary, Mark Drakeford, has claimed that the tax will benefit local economies and improve the services Wales can offer to tourists.
“I don’t believe for a single moment that paying this modest levy will put people off from everything that Wales has to offer,” the former First Minister said.
But Ms Tension, among several politicians and business owners, has voiced her criticism of the Welsh Government’s idea. She believes it will put businesses at a disadvantage to their nearest competitors.
“The introduction of a tax is essentially a burden on Welsh tourism,” she told us.
“Especially where we are, we are competing with Gloucestershire, the Forest of Dean and Herefordshire on the English border.”
European countries such as Greece and Spain already charge tourism taxes, so Wales would not be alone in implementing such a policy.
Laura says she is not necessarily opposed to a tax on tourism but thinks that the Welsh Government’s approach is flawed with a model that sees working people spending more money on tax, without getting any additional reward.
“The tourism tax should result in more support for the tourist, such as free public transport or a subsidised rail card. It could be cheaper entrance to National Trust or Cadw sites.”
“A tourism tax should be used to incentivise people visiting Wales, not simply an added cost.”
Earlier this week, the Welsh Government announced it would scrap its idea to charge the tourism tax for under 18s staying at lower-level accommodation, insisting it has listened to the feedback in its consultations, which Wonderful Escapes was a part of.
“We employ three people full time, and we have sixteen others working as contractors or freelancers here,” Laura said.
“Nonetheless, we are VAT rated, we pay council tax for every dwelling on-site, which is very high in Monmouthshire, and we have already been impacted by the 182-day rule.”
“I am keen to stress I am not against the principle of a tourism tax. But the latest update on the proposal is not welcome news.”