Coldplay: The Environmentally Conscious Rock Band

Scotland's hospitality industry last night hit out at plans to target tourists by imposing a "green tax".

Tourism chiefs, the business community and environmental groups are considering introducing a £5 charge per person. Amid increasing concern about pollution from transport, the voluntary levy would allow "eco-friendly" tourists to offset carbon emissions generated in travelling here and support green projects, such as growing trees.

The approach has been popular with environmentally-conscious companies and rock bands such as Coldplay in an effort to become "carbon neutral".The charge would be added when booking holidays over the internet or on entrance to the country.

However, the British Hospitality Association Scotland yesterday warned that such red tape could harm the industry. VisitScotland and the World Wildlife Fund Scotland were among the organisations that considered the scheme at a recent meeting. Allan Rankin, chief executive of the Scottish Tourism Forum, said the industry needed to consider ways to appeal to environmentally-conscious tourists. "Consumers are increasingly taking their decisions on whether to buy or not on how seriously businesses - or countries - take their environmental responsibilities. So there some merit in looking into this."

But he warned that a mandatory fee could damage the industry: "A compulsory tax would not be the best option because of international competitiveness and Scotland is already seen as an expensive destination. We must be careful before we go anywhere near additional cost to the consumer."

VisitScotland said no decisions would be made until a feasibility study had been carried out. It is not clear how the voluntary scheme would operate. Suggestions include forms given out on airplanes, at bed-and-breakfasts or on tour buses. Dr Richard Dixon, director of WWF Scotland, said any charge would be under £5. "It would certainly not be something that would put you off coming to Scotland," he said.

"But something that might make you feel a bit better about coming to Scotland because you would feel your output would be offset."

However, Gavin Ellis, chairman of the British Hospitality Association Scotland, suggested the industry could be damaged by such measures. "While we are trying to grow tourism in Scotland by 50 per cent, another tax that gets in the way of obtaining that goal would not be helpful," he said.

Mr Ellis said the industry should be encouraging more recycling and green energy rather than considering taxes. "There are green issues like bio fuels that could be sped up. Tax only slows things down."

Jamie McGrigor, the Conservative spokesman for tourism, said it was up to the individual to decide to offset carbon emissions rather than being asked. "All it is going to do is to add yet more red tape to the tourism industry," he said. "It is intrusive to the tourism trade and the one thing the tourism trade cannot take any more of is regulations or any more tax. Tourism is our biggest industry in Scotland; we should be encouraging it, not putting people off."

A spokesman for the Scottish Executive said: "We are aware of the discussions, but they are at a very early stage. We would also be keen to stress that this is not a tax being proposed. However, sustainability is at the heart of the recent tourism strategy and we will monitor developments with interest."

Source: http://news.scotsman.com