08/10/2026
This morning I was at Fife House in Glenrothes to attend the meeting of The Cabinet Committee which was considering a Report recommending progressing with a Public Consultation on charging a Visitor Levy in Fife.
I am not a member of that Committee, but was allowed to make the following statement before the discussion took place
Address by Cllr Robin Lawson to Cabinet Committee 8th October 2026
Members of the Cabinet Committee,
You are considering this Report on a proposed Visitor Levy on overnight stays in Fife. St Andrews has 46 hotels with over 1000 hotel rooms which is almost 40% of the Fife total, and St Andrews also has a couple of thousand beds in Short Term Lets.
So a Visitor Levy would be of great significance to St Andrews, yet there is not one Councillor elected from St Andrews on the Cabinet Committee. I am speaking to you on behalf of the many hotels, guest houses, and private operators who have voiced concerns both to me in person, and through BID St Andrews which recently won a mandate for another 5 year term and represents over 300 businesses - all already hard pressed with increased rates, increased utility bills and employment costs.
Visitors to Fife are said to contribute £956 million to the economy, but the main driver for this is golf and most of the spend is in St Andrews. Tourism employs over 12,000 people, mostly in St Andrews and the East Neuk.
Over my 20 years living in St Andrews the main visitor period has widened from May-Sept to Mar- Nov. Over those two decades the University of St Andrews has expanded from just over 4,000 students to around 10,500. The University makes a massive contribution to the Fife Economy and employs several thousand. Student rooms are let to visitors outwith the academic year.
Visitors to St Andrews tend to come straight to St Andrews without stopping elsewhere in Fife. This explains why I was asked by hotels and guest houses where money from the proposed Levy will be spent What actual benefits would the hotels and guest houses of St Andrews which already pay big rates bills expect to see from a Visitor Levy? About 90 percent of all second homes in Fife are in the St Andrews area yet there has been no sign of the promised spend in and around St Andrews of the millions raised from extra Council Tax.
The proposed Visitor Levy will impose significant costs on a sector which is already beset by too many regulations. Costs will range from a few thousand for a smaller bed and breakfast to tens of thousands for large hotels with complex software needing modification. St Andrews businesses already contribute 1.5% of their rateable value to the BID ST Andrews which delivers many of the suggested benefits of the visitor levy.
There has been talk about the Visitor Levy “bringing in” extra millions for Fife. This is in fact money which is being taken out of visitors’ pockets with the result that they have less to spend on other things – food, drink, shopping etc. Fife Council would need about £4 million over ten years just to administer the levy – money that is lost to the Fife economy.
Turning to administration, how can Fife Council deliver proper oversight of an additional complex scheme when it is now taking 9 months to process Short Term Let applications?
Visitors to Fife from all over Scotland do not yet realise they too would have to pay a levy if they stay overnight in Fife but could go and stay in Dundee or Angus and not pay any levy.
A Visitor Levy would make Fife less competitive in what is not just a national but an international travel market. It may be only a few pounds a day, but that adds up over a week or fortnight and makes people start to question the value. While Fife Council expected a gradual reduction in second home tax as behavioural adjustments took place, with the Visitor Levy the deterrent effect would be felt immediately and bookings would go elsewhere.
If there is to be a Consultation it should take place during the visitor season and not during the dead winter months when there are few visitors here to express their opinions. The Early Engagement got only 50 replies from visitors out of 855 responses because it was done in Nov-Jan 2025
I trust this will give you pause for thought, and hopefully you will decide not to progress with a Consultation on a scheme which would deliver little and threaten our thriving tourist industry.
Thank you
