Inverness Chamber of Commerce boss Colin Marr: ‘Spoiler alert, I am not in favour of the visitor levy’ but senior Highland Council official Malcolm Macleod insists the local authority’s ears are open on thorny questions like VAT

Inverness Chamber of Commerce staged what is the second major visitor levy consultation in the city amid rising unease in the Highland business community about the proposals.

The chamber’s chief executive Colin Marr led the engagement and consultation event which was funded by Highland Council and sought to make the voices of many in the tourism and other sectors heard.

Previously, Visit Inverness Loch Ness staged a similar event designed to highlight many concerns and even saw a small march in protest at the levy many warned would put them out of business.

The Inverness Chamber was also representing three others – the Caithness, Cairngorm, and West Highland Chambers of Commerce – and therefore was speaking for a huge swathe of north businesses.

Despite the council implementing the proposals based on Scottish Government legislation, of the 45 councillors who were invited just 21 responded and only nine actually came.

A poll conducted prior to the event for the roughly 50 or so attendees only brought bad news, Mr Marr reported that having seen the results “not a single person supported the proposal in its current form”.

Even those on the fence, he said, were more likely to be firmly convinced against the levy at this stage and in this form while around 16 were against any form of visitor levy at all.

Mr Marr argued that the Highlands was likely to be particularly ill-served by the plan which he feels is incomplete because “Edinburgh residents do not stay in Edinburgh hotels but Highland residents do stay in Highland hotels.”

Yet, he noted there was no plan on how to account for this in the proposals which he said came attached with a consultation geared towards getting the right answers rather than what people may think.

He said too often benefits of the extra money it will bring are presented but not alongside some of the tourism sectors’ concerns while the levy is subject to VAT and is essentially a tax subject to another tax.

But Mr Macleod pushed back strongly, correcting what he felt was a mistake that was said that everywhere else in the world had a flat rate, saying: “I know that is not true because I have done my research”.

He also emphasised two points that may help assuage business concerts – the first he said was: “There is no rush on this, given the feedback that we are receiving and the need to digest it we will not be rushing through the next available committee.”

And the second was that the council is open to looking at the issue VAT and the flatrate or the percentage rate – perhaps the two biggest bugbears for businesses.

Regarding the rate he said “we get that the flatrate is easier for you guys, easier for everyone, we get that” and that under consideration for VAT is “capping and seasonality breaks.”

Ultimately, Mr Macleod’s main point was that the council remains open to listening and potentially adapting, a point echoed by Mr Marr at the start of the event.

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