Guide · Tax · Wales
Welsh Visitor Levy Guide 2026/27 -- Wales's Flat-Rate Tourist Tax
Wales has taken its own approach to a visitor levy, built around a flat charge per person, per night rather than a percentage of the room rate, and tied to a new national scheme requiring visitor accommodation providers to register. As with Scotland, whether a levy actually applies in a given area is a decision for each local authority, not a single nationwide charge.
Key facts
- Charging model: Flat rate per person, per night (not a percentage of room cost)
- Who decides: Each local authority in Wales, on a discretionary basis
- Prerequisite: A national visitor accommodation registration scheme
- Contrast with Scotland: Scotland charges a percentage, no prior registration scheme required
- Exemptions: Expected for certain groups and accommodation types -- check gov.wales
- Timing: Phased -- registration scheme must operate before a levy can be charged
Why Wales chose a flat-rate model
Following debate about tourist taxes across the UK, the Welsh Government pursued a visitor levy model based on a fixed amount charged per person, per night of accommodation, rather than scaling with the price of the room as Scotland's levy does. The stated aim is similar to other tourist tax schemes: raising revenue that can be reinvested in tourism-related infrastructure and services in the areas that host large numbers of visitors.
The national accommodation registration scheme
Ahead of any levy being charged, Wales is introducing a national scheme requiring visitor accommodation providers -- hotels, guesthouses, self-catering lets, campsites and similar accommodation -- to register. This has a wider purpose in supporting accommodation standards and safety, but it also creates the administrative backbone needed to identify who should be collecting and accounting for a visitor levy once a local authority decides to introduce one.
How much the levy is and who it applies to
The levy is expected to be set as a flat amount per person, per night, within a framework set at a national level that local authorities then choose to apply (or not) in their own area. Certain groups -- for example young children -- and certain categories of accommodation not aimed at leisure tourists are expected to be exempted or given different treatment under the underlying regulations. Because the detailed rates, exemptions and start dates have continued to develop, check the current position on gov.wales rather than relying on assumptions carried over from earlier proposals.
How it compares with the Scottish Visitor Levy
The two nations have taken clearly different approaches. Scotland charges a percentage of the accommodation cost under the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024, with individual councils setting their own rate and no national accommodation registration prerequisite. Wales instead uses a flat per-person, per-night charge, tied to a new national registration scheme for accommodation providers that must be operating before a levy can be charged locally. See our separate guide on the Scottish Visitor Levy for the detail of that model.
What accommodation providers should do to prepare
Providers operating in Wales should watch for the national registration scheme opening and register promptly, since this is likely to become a compliance requirement independent of whether their local authority ultimately introduces a visitor levy. Providers should also monitor whether their specific local authority is consulting on or has decided to introduce a levy, since collection and accounting obligations will only apply once a levy is actually in force in that area.