Investing funds raised
The underlying rationale for Edinburgh’s visitor levy is that visitors who pay to stay in the city and use public spaces and services should contribute to managing the impact of a successful tourism economy.
The Act says that funds raised must be reinvested in local facilities and services substantially used by business and leisure visitors.
The levy is expected to raise £45-50 million a year by 2028/29. The money generated by the scheme will be reinvested directly into initiatives that benefit residents and enhance visitor experiences.
After administration and contingency costs, a fixed amount will be assigned to
- housing and tourism mitigation (£5 million annually)
- participatory budgeting (£2m over 3 years)
- reimbursement of 2% of collected funds to accommodation providers, to off-set the administrative cost incurred from collecting the levy.
Remaining funds will then be split across three investment streams
- city operations and infrastructure (55%)
- culture, heritage and events (35%)
- destination management (10%).
These investment streams will be developed by officers and the Visitor Levy Advisory Forum will be consulted on the proposals. The proposals will have final approval from relevant Council committees.
Initial spend programmes will be discussed at the following committees:
- Housing: Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee, Tuesday 2 December 2025
- City Operations (main): Transport & Environment Committee, Thursday 29 January 2026
- Destination and Visitor Management: Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee, Tuesday 10 February 2026
- Culture: Culture & Communities Committee, Thursday 12 February 2026
- City Operations (parks): Culture & Communities Committee, Thursday 12 February 2026
- Participatory Budgeting: Culture & Communities Committee, Thursday 12 February 2026
- Full budget (City of 麻豆映画): Full Council, Thursday 26 February 2026
Advice on where the levy funds are invested
The Act stipulates that a Visitor Levy Advisory Forum must be set up and that this group must include a balance of
- tourist organisations
- businesses engaged in tourism
- representatives of communities.
This is an advisory group to help inform and shape how the levy will be invested and monitored. View our news articles on and selection of the forum's membership.
Reporting on how we invest the levy
When we introduce the visitor levy, we will need to report to Scottish Government
- on the amount we collect
- how we will use the net proceeds, that is the amount collected minus costs or expenses of operating the levy
- demonstrate that we are delivering on how we said we would invest proceeds from the levy.