New tax could hit cruise ships docking in Scotland as politicians discuss ‘visitor levy’

Cruise ships docking in Scotland could face a new tax in the future, as politicians confirm they are in talks of introducing a levy – following other European destinations which have initiated similar regulations.

Finance Secretary Shona Robinson told MSPs during a Holyrood debate this week that the government is consulting with stakeholders about cruise ship taxes with the aim of introducing them as quickly as possible.

Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer questioned whether further powers could be devolved to local governments next year to tackle the country’s social, economic and environmental challenges, such as through a cruise ship tax.

Robinson noted that parliament had recently introduced new powers and guidance in May, allowing local authorities to establish a ‘visitor levy’ to generate revenue that will benefit tourist facilities.

Destinations such as Edinburgh have already voted to introduce a charge for visitors who stay in the city in hotels, holiday lets and B&Bs, hoping to raise tens of millions of pounds each year.

Now, the government will “intensify work on designing a potential cruise ship levy” and will be consulting stakeholders and local authorities over the coming months to see the proposal through.

“It is important that we get that right, but we are keen to move forward as quickly as we can,” Robinson added.

SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson also added that a cruise ship tax “at the discretion of local authorities seems sensible and is in line with actions that have been taken in Greece and Italy.”

He added that the tax could be an advantage for Scotland’s natural marine surroundings, which have been polluted due to the large cruise ships; all the while, little revenue has actually been made from the tourists visiting certain areas.

“It could benefit Inverclyde, which is subject to the harmful sulphuric oxides that are emitted by cruise liners, despite very little passenger spend being retained locally,” he said.

Other politicians, such as Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater, added that the new cruise tax could “ensure that communities benefit when they host cruise ships”.

Taxing cruise ships in Scotland was introduced by the Scottish Greens last year, with a focus on ensuring the taxes would go to communities that are hosting cruise ships, which can be overwhelmed by thousands of visitors at a time.

The Scottish Greens also hope it will encourage cruise operators to switch to zero-emission vessels.

“This is essential – one ship produces the same amount of carbon emissions as 12,000 cars; operators have been allowed to get away with polluting for too long,” Slater said in October last year,

“A cruise ship levy will empower councils to help tackle this global problem.”

According to VisitScotland’s last study, more than 800,000 cruise passengers visited Scotland in 2019 with around 900 calls to port, while industry group Cruise Scotland predicted numbers rose to one million passengers in 2023.

Greece was one of the recent European countries to impose a €20 levy on cruise ship visitors to the islands of Santorini and Mykonos in its peak summer season, to try and quell overtourism issues faced by locals.

Barcelona in Spain also put new restrictions on passenger cruises last year by closing some of its busiest and most polluted ports to ships, while more recently, Ibiza proposed allowing only two cruise ships at the same time in their port.

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