Lee Anderson column: Labour's new tourist tax will cause a job massacre in the hospitality sector

The concept of the tourist tax, is to implement a percentage charge on all people who want to stay overnight in places like a hotel, an Air B&B, a caravan park, a campsite and so on.

And don't be mistaken, this is not limited to foreign tourists.

This will be applicable to absolutely anyone spending the night anywhere that they have to pay for.

This means if you want to book a staycation in the UK somewhere that the tourist tax exists at, say, a five per cent rate, your charge of, say, £60 per person per night, for example, would increase to £63.60 per person per night, including VAT.

Whilst this doesn't seem like a lot at first glance, it makes a huge difference when applied to real life situations.

At that rate, for a week’s holiday for instance, the cost increase would be £25.20 per person.

For a family of four on a week holiday, this would take the total cost increase to over £100.

It does not take a genius to see that the effect this will have on the hospitality sector will be devastating.

Many Brits will instead choose to stay at home, which means hospitality businesses lose money.

Meanwhile, the people that can afford the extra charge will have less money in their pockets to spend in the visitor economy.

This is at a time when the hospitality industry is already grappling with the impact of Labour’s £26bn tax raid on employer National Insurance contributions and minimum wage increases.

Hospitality insiders have warned the tourist tax will cause a job bloodbath due to rising costs and businesses closing their doors, especially for young people who are more likely to lose their jobs.

When youth unemployment is already at crisis levels, the introduction of the tourist tax is simply unacceptable.

The tourist tax was proposed earlier this year and was even part of the King's Speech in May.

But Andy Burnham has shirked his responsibility and passed this ticking time bomb on to regional mayors so that they can take the blame instead when this inevitably goes wrong.

Hospitality businesses will rightly be terrified of this news in areas like the East Midlands where Labour mayor Claire Ward has unashamedly welcomed her new unlimited tourist tax powers and declared that she is looking forward to introducing this new tax in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

Well Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire businesses are looking forward to seeing the back end of Labour.

All Reform mayors have pledged not to impose the tourist tax in their areas.

This is why it is so important to have people in positions of power who understand business and know that you cannot simply tax your way to growth.

I'm afraid this is the same old Labour.

A Reform Government will axe this tax and keep your bills down.