A Cornwall Council meeting discussing a new inquiry into improvements to tourism in the Duchy heard a suggestion that a £1 visitors tax similar to a scheme started in Manchester last year should be implemented.

The council’s economic growth and development committee heard details of the study into how the economic and environmental impacts of tourism in Cornwall can be improved at a meeting on Tuesday (January 9).

Recommendations included the council’s Cabinet continuing to lobby the Government to allow Cornwall Council to have more control over the short-term Airbnb-style holiday let market and its impact on the local housing market. It was also recommended that the Cabinet lobbies the Government to encourage schools and colleges across England to stagger their holiday periods to spread them out across the year rather than a concentrated period in the peak season, thus taking the pressure off the holiday market in Cornwall.

A committee report highlighted that Cornwall gets around four million holiday visits and around twelve million day visitors per year which is reflected in the value of the sector to our economy.

“However, our popularity, especially in the peak period, also brings with it negative impacts to our communities such as reduction in air quality, environmental degradation at popular sites, increased demand on services and congestion,” it stated.

The meeting heard that the issue of too many people coming in a short period of time was something that the council and its partners, such as Visit Cornwall, had to look at long term.

Cllr Mike Thomas said: “I really do think there’s a great danger of a perception by people not necessarily directly involved in tourism that tourism is having a negative effect on Cornwall. A lot of people do see the negative side. In some communities businesses like Airbnb have had a dramatic effect. We need to recognise that and find some way of regulating it.

“In terms of a tourist tax, which in my opinion hasn’t been referenced enough – there’s a fear that people will be against it. Manchester has demonstrated that people will not be negative when it’s actually put in place – £1 a night per person up to a maximum of 21 nights would bring in revenue that people in this Duchy would feel was paying for the facilities that people visiting are using.”

Since April 1, 2023, Manchester introduced a tourist tax which has seen a £1 charge added to the cost of a room per night. The tax is capped at 21 successive days.

However, Cllr Thomas added he could not support the recommendation to support changes to school holidays “unless there are sound educational reasons for them. As a former secondary school teacher I can sort of see the value of shortening the summer holiday by one week and having a two-week holiday in October as a beneficial move, but any decision must be predicated on educational reasons not on economic growth issues”.

Cllr Olly Monk added: “I often think what we need to concentrate on is providing more 21st century energy efficient holiday accommodation that allows hotels and holiday parks to regenerate themselves to soak up some of that pressure which allows people to rent their houses out willy nilly to the detriment of the local Cornish population.”

The inquiry report stated that in 2021, 18.4% of employees in Cornwall were employed in “visitor economy” groups compared to 10% in the rest of the UK. Counting businesses associated with tourism, such as food and drink suppliers and builders, this figure could be as high as 30% of workers in Cornwall.

According to data analysts Lightcast, the visitor economy accounted for almost £952m to the Cornish economy in 2021. Other estimates, by Visit Cornwall for example, reckon the economic value is over £1 billion.

“However, Cornwall’s tourism economy is very seasonal, with a clear peak during the summer months, although day visitors, which includes residents of Cornwall visiting other areas of Cornwall, has a flatter profile. This seasonality has a significant negative impact on our economy and the productivity of the sector as it encourages seasonal and part-time employment,” added the report.

The meeting heard that Cornwall’s average wage stood at £24,0376 in 2022 and 12.8% of all jobs were paid below the Real Living Wage (RLW) rate. As far as the visitor economy is concerned, seasonality has an impact on wage levels within the sector.

In Cornwall, 84% of all employees in the tourism sector are employed in accommodation and food service (approximately 35,000 people). Therefore, using the Resolution Foundation’s Low Pay Britain findings, this would mean that 17,500 people employed in the tourism economy in Cornwall are paid below the RLW.