To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the economy secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding the impact on the tourism sector of any new taxes or regulation. (S6O-05062)

Tourism is one of Scotland’s key growth sectors, and the Scottish Government is committed to working with the tourism sector to create a resilient, sustainable, accessible and inclusive tourism economy for the future. It is a measure of the sector’s importance that I am in regular contact with the sector, as are many of my ministerial and Cabinet colleagues. There is a Cabinet sub-committee on investment and economic growth, and as part of our on-going bilateral engagement on policy development work, including on taxation and regulation, we look at all those issues and their impact on tourism and hospitality.

Yesterday, The Herald reported that the new visitor levy has already forced accommodation providers in Edinburgh into a position in which they are breaking the law, with Booking.com and Airbnb being unable to apply the Government’s five-night cap correctly. The Scottish Bed and Breakfast Association described the situation as “ridiculous and unacceptable”.

Does the Minister accept that whatever discussions took place within Government clearly failed? Would he also agree that, if that is how the poorly thought-out and poorly implemented new tax affects Edinburgh, owners of small B and Bs and guesthouses across my Highlands and Islands region have every reason to fear how the Scottish National Party’s visitor levy will damage their already fragile and under-pressure tourism economy?

Of course, many local authorities are considering raising the levy to inject investment back into the local visitor economy and thereby bring benefits. That is why 21 out of 27 European countries have some kind of occupancy tax in their jurisdictions.

The concerns in Edinburgh should be communicated directly to the local council by those who are affected. However, we continue to engage constructively with the sector at all times. My colleague Ivan McKee is involved in leading those discussions with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and industry representatives. In the same way that we have done in the past, we will continue to listen to them in the future.

We know that taxes on overnight tourist stays are common across Europe and the rest of the world. Given that Scotland is an exceptionally popular tourist destination, can the Minister say more about the opportunities that are presented by the visitor levy to support our economy and to ensure that Scotland retains its place as a global leader in tourism?

That gets to the heart of the debate about a tourism levy. Given that we all want to have a sustainable tourism sector, we must ensure that the infrastructure and other issues that are affected by tourism are addressed. Many Governments throughout Europe have put in place some kind of tax or levy to address such issues.

As the Minister who is responsible for tourism, I regularly speak to people in the sector, many of whom support the levy. Of course, they have questions about its implementation, and they want any new flexibilities to address that. I have no doubt that those debates will continue, but many people are supportive of the visitor levy, because they recognise that the fact that Scotland is a very popular tourism economy brings pressures and that we need investment to address some of those pressures.

I say to the Minister, with all due respect, that the answers that he has given have been about the principle, but the issue concerns a point of detail in the legislation. Providers in Edinburgh are concerned that they are breaching the law because the amount that they will have to charge will be different from the amount that they are advertising.

Ivan McKee has written to spokespeople across the Parliament and to members of the Economy and Fair Work Committee and the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee about a proposed expedited bill. Is that bill ready to go? Will it address the issue that has been highlighted? Can we have a statement on the issue? It is fast becoming the case that there is no clarity on what the Government’s position is.

The short answer to that is, of course, yes. The member referred to the fact that the Minister for Public Finance has already written to the other parties on the subject. We will keep that communication going.

In the meantime, as I said in my previous answer, anyone who is affected by the issue that the member raises should speak directly to the City of Edinburgh Council. However, the backdrop is that many discussions continue to take place between the Scottish Government, COSLA and the relevant sectors.

Given that the Minister and his colleagues are desperately trying to find a legislative solution to the problem that I think that many would accept that they have created in respect of a flat fee, will he join me, in the interim, in encouraging those councils that are presently consulting on a tourism levy to pause those exercises so that they do not find themselves facing the same problem that the City of Edinburgh Council is facing?

The member must not get away with rewriting history here.

What happened at the time was that there was a consultation on the levy. The people who responded to the consultation were listened to and the legislation was brought forward. However, now, in 2025, further flexibilities are being asked for and, once again, the Government is listening to those affected. That sounds to me like a good way forward, and it counters the member’s suggestion that we completely ignored the sectors on the issue in the past, which is not the case. It was consulted on at the time. However, it is now 2025 and we are looking for further flexibilities, as requested by the sectors.

Question 6 has been withdrawn, and question 7 was not lodged.