OXFORD Bus Company boss Phil Southall is objecting to a tax on tourist coaches and insisted proposals to tax hotel accommodation should be considered instead.
Mr Southall spoke out after Mary Clarkson, the city council’s tourism supremo, said last month that if a tourism tax was introduced in Oxford it should target tourist coaches and not accommodation.
Council leaders in Oxford are monitoring the issue carefully after Edinburgh councillors backed a levy.
Edinburgh’s ‘transient visitor levy proposals’ include a £2-per-night charge added to the price of any room for the first week of a stay.
READ AGAIN: Tourist tax should target coaches in Oxford not hotels says councillor
Mrs Clarkson, however, said she would prefer a tax charging £50 a coach - about a £1 per person, with the funds spent on improving facilities for tourists in the city.
But the suggestion has not been welcomed by OBC’s managing director Mr Southall, who also runs Oxford City Sightseeing tour buses. He said: “Oxford Bus Company and the Confederation of Passenger Transport UK have requested a meeting with councillors to assist in their understanding of why coaches and tourist buses are important to the city. As part of this we will assist councillors in how to manage the volume of coaches.
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“There isn’t a mechanism to charge coaches a tax but perhaps it could be simpler to consider adopting current proposals in Edinburgh where having a £2 per night tax on accommodation is being debated. The small charge would be reinvested into supporting the tourism industry.
“Buses and coaches play a key role in reducing congestion and improving air quality.
“A single, full bus can carry around 70 car drivers and thus take 300 metres of queuing traffic off the road. Furthermore, our fleet of open top tour buses are currently being converted to electric.”
Mr Southall said giving tourists an ‘unwelcoming message’ would be damaging to the tourist economy - worth £2bn a year to the county.
READ MORE: Grant to Oxford's tourism managers slashed by city council
Operators of tourist coaches have been criticised for leaving their engines running in St Giles and parking attendants have been asked to monitor the situation.
Hayley Beer-Gamage, CEO of Experience Oxfordshire, said: “Tourist buses and coaches should not be banned from Oxford as this would have a detrimental impact on the thriving visitor economy.
“Experience Oxfordshire is working on attracting the right type of groups and coach business, those that stay overnight.”
Jeremy Mogford, who owns the Old Bank Hotel, said any tax directed at overnight guests would be unfair.
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