Tourist taxes must be spent on restaurants not wheelie bins

I represent hundreds of hospitality businesses in Newcastle’s busy city centre and to all of us in ‘the Toon’ the answer is simple: money raised from visitors should be used to attract more visitors and growth the economy.

A tourist tax should not be seen as a tax but as an investment in growing the sector, driving spend and increasing jobs.

Tourism and hospitality are hugely important to Newcastle and the wider North East. According to the latest figures the region’s visitor economy was worth more than £6.6 billion and supported 63,600 jobs.

Those visitors not only support the city by staying in hotels, they spend money in restaurants, bars, shops, cultural venues and attractions, supporting businesses and employment across the city.

Other cities show this can be achieved.

According to Barcelona City Council, the city raised €106.5 million from tourism taxation in 2024. Some of that money has been used for cleaning, security, public lighting and transport.

But it has also funded tourism management, cultural projects, major events, commerce and initiatives designed to attract fairs and conferences to the city; in other words it is reinvested to keep people coming back to Barcelona.

Barcelona demonstrates just how significant visitor levies can be and also highlights why we need to be clear from the outset about what we want one to achieve here.

The natural uplift from direct revenue for councils, such as parking fees and public transport, as well taxation caus

ed by an increased number of people engaging with a visitor economy will be welcomed by any local authority.

A tourist tax should make cities like Newcastle more ambitious to attract major events, conferences and even more people who will stay overnight and spend money.

We have had amazing success in the last few years with an increased number of free events in our city centre, which have given families a reason to visit Newcastle and have led to an uplift in spend and footfall across the whole of the city.

The proof is in the numbers: events delivered or supported by NE1 attracted 335,000 visitors in 2025.

Magic Weekend, a rugby event, generated an estimated £4.2 million economic benefit, Northern Pride £4 million, while our twice-yearly NE1 Restaurant Week, the first promotion of its type in the UK, provides a £2.3 million boost to businesses annually.

This weekend, Newcastle will stage the start of the 45th Great North Run.

In October, Newcastle will host the Mercury Music Awards, and looking further ahead, Newcastle is a host city for Euro 2028. Major events attract huge audiences but require significant investment.

We can’t use the proposed tax to simply balance the books, subsidise existing programmes, or fund niche interests.

It must be used it to attract more people to visit, create jobs, support businesses and generate economic growth.

If we’re going to ask visitors to pay more to visit our cities, then let’s make sure we’re giving them even more reasons to come.

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Stephen Patterson is the chief executive of Newcastle’s business improvement district, NE1 Ltd.

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