David Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, speaking at the launch of the Policy Lab at York St John University.
Yesterday, as part of the Budget, the Chancellor announced a new power for regional Mayors to introduce an overnight visitor levy (OVL). I have consistently called for this since taking office, so I welcome this news.
York and North Yorkshire is beautiful, and that’s why we attract over 40 million visitors a year. I started my career in hospitality, having worked in hotels and restaurants across the region, before going onto to open a shop in York. My career has been dependent on a thriving visitor economy and hospitality sector.
I was born here, I am raising my family here, I am proud to call it home and even prouder to represent it as Mayor. I love York and North Yorkshire, and I would never support anything that I thought would harm the people or businesses in our community.
I know many of you are concerned, and I appreciate that. The sector has been under sustained pressure for a prolonged period. I firmly believe that the potential significant income from an overnight visitor levy will be fundamentally game changing for our region.
At its heart, any revenue must support growth in the visitor economy, helping to attract visitors where they are needed, to better manage areas where there are high visitor numbers, and to drive forward the destination management plans that are in place in York and North Yorkshire.
The work on making sure this is right for our region begins now. The process to introduce a levy will be open, transparent and involve significant consultation and engagement. That is my personal commitment. The Government have launched a 12-week consultation, this will inform how the primary legislation is shaped, I would therefore ask you to submit a response to this. Our Policy Lab with York St John University is undertaking a detailed analysis of an overnight visitor levy. That work has collaboration at its heart. With more engagement it will be even more valuable.
I am keen to hear your views directly, and will be working with Make it York, Visit North Yorkshire, hospitality associations, BIDs, chambers of commerce, and other interested groups across the region to discuss this with you in more detail and explore how we can make sure that whatever scheme we adopt works for our region.
I look forward to speaking to you soon.
David Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire