Thursday July 23rd 2026
City of Edinburgh Council Leader Jane Meagher at the City Chambers today
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
Assuring that tourist levy income ‘will not go to waste’, Edinburgh’s Council Leader today marked the formal introduction of Edinburgh visitor levy which is projected to raise £50m for the capital.
Visiting Edinburgh’s City Chambers alongside City of Edinburgh Council street cleansing teams and Essential Edinburgh’s Chief Executive, Council Leader Jane Meagher highlighted that all money made from the levy will be reinvested into the city as the first Scottish administration to introduce a charge for tourists.
The visitor levy goes into effect tomorrow and will see a 5% charge added to the cost of overnight stays in hotels, B&Bs and Airbnbs in the city, with revenue aiming to be invested into public services, housing and city infrastructure. The additional cost is calculated before VAT and is capped at a maximum of five consecutive nights.
Highlighting the extensive research and consultation behind the plans, Jane Meagher announced that the levy is estimated to raise £50m per year.
Speaking today, she said: “I can assure you it will not go to waste. All of the money that will come in from the visitor levy will be reinvested in the city.
“If we were a business and didn’t invest in our business then it would go down the tubes. We think that investing in Edinburgh is an investment into the groups and organisations who come to visit Edinburgh.”
The council announced that amongst various investment programmes, new funding will ‘ensure the city’s streets and open spaces are cleaned and kept to a high standard’. This will include a £100,000 per year upgrade and replacement programme for bins in high footfall areas, £500,000 per annum to expand work to tackle graffiti and £1.3m on additional operations services for the city centre, such as waste, cleaning and patrols.
Council Leader Jane Meagher added: “This is such an important moment for our city – and for our residents and visitors. We now have a unique opportunity to invest more in the things that make our city so special.
“We know that the city’s popularity comes at a cost through the pressure it puts on our services and on the people who live and work here all year round. This small new contribution from overnight visitors will help improve the services and public spaces we all depend on, while better managing the effects of tourism and major events.
“The levy has also opened the door to exciting new projects right across the city – helping to make Edinburgh a cleaner, greener and more welcoming place. We’ll soon be able to invest more into our many parks and greenspaces, and bring much-loved cultural venues such as the Royal High School and Leith Theatre back into use for the first time in decades.
“We’ve always said this is a city-wide fund and spending decisions need to be taken with the whole city in mind. I’m very aware of how busy the city’s accommodation providers are at this time of year and we’re continuing to do everything we can to support them as the scheme comes into effect.”
Edinburgh City Council leader Jane Meagher with City of Edinburgh Council street cleansing teams
Issues have risen in Edinburgh surrounding the growing costs for visitors, especially regarding accommodation costs, affecting yearly festivals such as the Fringe. Jane Meagher explained that these growing costs ‘are not to do with the visitor levy but to do with hotel prices’ as overnight costs rise 70% during periods of time where popular events and festivals are hosted in the city.
She highlighted that reinvestment from levy income will include options for cultural groups through funding support applications with the council looking at assistance to relieve costs during festivals.
This additional cost comes at a time where financial pressure is growing for both visitors and contributors to Edinburgh’s festivals, affecting Edinburgh’s reputation as a global festival city. This pressure has already been experienced by frequent Fringe performers and the recent announcement that the popular TV Festival will relocate to Manchester next year to ‘radically reduce’ costs after 50 years of taking place in Edinburgh.
With rising costs putting financial pressure on Edinburgh’s tourism, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) appealed for patience on behalf of accommodation providers as the levy was introduced ahead of Edinburgh’s busiest time of the year, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Garry Clark, FSB’s East of Scotland Engagement Manager, said:
“Collecting the levy, explaining it to guests, training staff and becoming familiar with the new systems all add to the workload during an already exceptionally demanding period.
“We would ask visitors to be patient if the introduction of the levy means check-in or booking processes take a little longer than usual in the early weeks. Introducing a new tax collection system at this time of year inevitably creates extra pressure and increases the risk of mistakes.
“Small accommodation providers will be doing everything they can to make the transition as smooth as possible while continuing to provide the warm welcome Edinburgh is known for.”
The Visitor Levy, the booking system and the portal for transferring the funds collected to the city council are all new to accommodation providers, and many visitors will be paying it for the first time, Mr Clark highlighted.
“Looking ahead, it’s important that the council listens carefully to businesses as the levy beds in, addresses any practical issues quickly and demonstrates clearly how the revenue is being invested to support Edinburgh’s visitor economy and the communities that host it.”
Plans will see the Council collect the 5% additional costs through online remittance with businesses made to remit the collected funds quarterly using the website vistitorlevy.scot.
Discussing support from city businesses towards the levy, Chief Executive of Essential Edinburgh (the city’s largest Business Improvement District), Roddy Smith explained:
“I think any business if they suddenly get a caution of an increase of 5%, you would question it. We have been in discussion surrounding the levy for around two or three years, if not longer so businesses all accept it now as it’s coming in.
“Now that it is here, let’s make sure that it is used effectively. If this works then hopefully the tourists will have a better experience and they will spread the gospel because the tourism sector is fundamentally crucial to the city centre’s economy.
“One thing that I’m really keen to see is the improvement of Princes Street, Rose Street and George Street, especially the public realm that needs significant investment and we have now got investment coming but we need to make improvements over 10 to 15 years.
He explained that hoteliers are facing issues profiteering, adding: “There is no doubt that Edinburgh is not a cheap city to visit and we are a global tourism city but hoteliers aren’t profiting, they have a massive tax burden. If I was a tourist and I was asked to pay the levy, I wouldn’t mind doing so as long as you see benefits.”
The scheme was formally agreed in January 2025 and has applied to all advance bookings made since 1 October 2025 for stays taking place on or after 24 July 2026.
In February, councillors agreed the first full set of investment programmes using funding raised by the levy. Worth over £90 million over the next three years, the initial programmes fall under three themes: City Operations and Infrastructure, Culture, Heritage and Events, and Destination and Visitor Management.
Several ‘early win’ projects have already started, including:
– A £132,000 contribution towards Edinburgh’s Festival Carnival and Mardi Gras events, which took place over the weekend of 18/19 July, providing an early demonstration of the Council’s intent to reinvest the levy’s funds into experiences that everyone can enjoy, whether they are visitors or residents.
– Funding ten festival city ambassadors to help visitors find their way around the capital this summer, and work alongside the Council’s partners to make sure Edinburgh remains a vibrant and inclusive place.
– Partnering with Police Scotland to create a City Centre Policing Unit, increasing public safety in the city centre and freeing up existing resource for frontline officers to be more present across other areas of the city.
Other key initiatives to be delivered in the next three years include, but are not limited to:
Tweet Share on Facebook– A £2m Participatory Budgeting (PB) programme to fund local neighbourhood projects in all 17 of the city’s electoral wards, chosen by residents via a new online voting portal, while also encouraging visitors to explore Edinburgh’s many hidden gems.
– Funding to ensure the city’s streets and open spaces are clean and kept to a high standard, including a £100,000 per year upgrade and replacement programme for bins in high footfall areas, £500,000 per annum to expand work to tackle graffiti through extra support for private businesses and £1.3m on additional operations services for the city centre (waste, cleansing, patrols).
– Ambitious projects to renew and restore principal areas of Edinburgh, including investments in town centre high streets, £3m for public realm improvements in Hunter Square and £2m and £2.5m respectively towards transforming the city’s key coastal visitor attractions at Cramond foreshore and Portobello Promenade.
– £5m contribution to restore Leith Theatre and create a year round culture and live music space, expanding cultural opportunity beyond the city centre.
– £3m towards transforming the iconic Old Royal High School into a world class, national centre for music open to all.
– £3.85m to speed up the setted streets renewal programme and £3m for new and upgraded public toilets to maintain Edinburgh’s streets, public spaces and public infrastructure to an accessible and world-class standard.
– Investing in premier parks across the city to create improved spaces where the highest footfall and impact on the environment is experienced – and increases to the parks repairs budgets, while doubling the number of park rangers across the city.
– Programmes to green the city with additional investment in planting, such as floral gateways, to improve the look and feel of the city’s green spaces as well as the overall visitor experience.
