Hoteliers in a city where council leaders want to introduce a tourism levy are calling for a separate tax on Airbnb landlords.

Bristol’s Green Party controlled council has agreed to spend £15,000 on a feasibility study for what it calls “a visitor charge.”

The idea would be that all visitors pay £2 extra to stay each night in the city. Manchester has a similar scheme which raised £2.8m for the city in its first year.

Raphael Herzog, chair of the Bristol Hoteliers Association, opposes the tax idea and has told the local media: “There are ways to look at areas such as AirBnB, as this is not regulated at all. Other cities in Europe charge a licence fee of around £180 a year and cap the number of nights per year that people are able to rent out their accommodation. 

“Bristol City Council could impose annual licence fees on AirBnB properties, which will provide an income as well as enabling the authority to better regulate the accommodation available in the city.

“AirBnB homes currently don’t have any of the regulations on them – and the associated costs of conforming to these regulations – that we have, which means they can afford to charge lower rates, which, of course, is a threat to our businesses, who have no choice but to meet the regulations.”

He continues: “We believe AirBnB properties should be limited to being let for no more than 100 days per year, as well as being subject to controls around water and fire risk assessments and other health and safety checks. Without action being taken, AirBnBs affect the availability of housing for those who badly need it as well as taking a significant share of occupancy from hotels and B&B businesses.

“Introducing an annual licence fee for short-term lets will create more of a level playing field among accommodation providers, whereas businesses like ours are only likely to suffer more if a visitor charge is imposed.

“Bristol as a whole should be doing everything it can to encourage people to visit the city, not impose additional charges which might deter them from coming.”