Tourist tax 'unlikely' in Blackpool as resort hoteliers rule out following Manchester's lead

Claire Smith, president of hoteliers group StayBlackpool, said she would be against the move which she warned would hit families on longer holidays hardest.

It comes as Manchester prepares to impose a tourist tax from April which means visitors must pay £1 per room per night if they are staying in a city centre hotel. The move is expected to raise £3m per year.

But Ms Smith said overnight visitors to Blackpool were already contributing to the town’s economy and it would be unfair to add the extra charge.

She said: “A bed tax affects those people who are already contributing to the economy because they are paying to stay in a hotel, whereas it’s the day-trippers who benefit from all our infrastructure without necessarily spending much.

“And when you are on holiday as a family for a few nights, perhaps needing two or three rooms, the extra cost would add up.

“Guests have saved up to come here and then you are going to whack them with another cost.

“What I would like to see instead is the adoption of a compulsory licensing scheme to create a level playing field, instead of the current situation where some airbnb type accommodation is not even paying business rates.

“I think that would raise far more money to put back into the town.”

Hotelier Tony Banks, who owns The Ruskin Hotel on Albert Road, said he was firmly against a tourist tax.

He said: “It’s another tax by stealth which businesses can’t afford because every hotel has flexible rates and they don’t want to change their bottom rates.

“Some small hotels don’t keep proper records to say how many guests they’ve got in, so I think it would be difficult to administer. Also who would decide how any revenue raised was spent?

“I think it would be an unfair tax and the policing of it would be impossible.”

Manchester will be the first UK city to introduce a tourist tax, with Edinburgh also expected to follow suit.

Many European destinations such as Venice, Rome and Barcelona have already introduced such charges.