Visitor levy for Edinburgh

Overview

The City of Edinburgh Council has introduced a visitor levy for overnight guests in paid accommodation. If you are planning to stay in Edinburgh on or after 24 July 2026, and booked your stay on or after 1 October 2025, a 5% visitor levy charge will be added to your accommodation cost. This is a legal requirement on all stays (some exceptions apply – see below).

This small charge will help sustain Edinburgh’s status as a cultural and heritage destination, raising a forecasted £100 million by 2030. Income generated will support public services, cultural programs and city infrastructure, benefiting both visitors and residents.

How will the visitor levy work in Edinburgh?

This 5% payment is on the cost of the paid, overnight accommodation. It will be charged before VAT and will not be charged on extras like parking, meals, drinks or transport.

Anyone who is staying in paid, overnight accommodation in Edinburgh needs to pay the levy. This includes tourists, people staying for work or visiting the city for other reasons. UK and Scottish residents are included.

The levy will only be charged on the first 5 nights’ stay, and at the same rate every day of the year.

In most cases, the levy is paid by the visitor to the accommodation provider. The Council will then collect all levy payments from accommodation providers.

What accommodation is included in the levy?

The levy will apply to paid overnight accommodation including hotels, self-catering apartments, aparthotels, bed and breakfasts, guest houses, hostels, student lets (only when let to visitors and non-Edinburgh students), vehicles or boats (vessels) which mostly stay in one place, holiday/short-term lets, and caravan/camp sites.

For details on those people who may be exempt from the levy, see the City of Edinburgh Council’s, website page, Visitor Levy: Information for visitors and exemptions.

What are the benefits of the visitor levy to Edinburgh?

The Edinburgh visitor levy will help to sustain, support and develop Edinburgh’s status as one of the world’s greatest cultural and heritage cities.

The money generated by the scheme will be reinvested directly into initiatives that benefit residents and enhance visitor experiences, while promoting responsible and sustainable tourism. Key initiatives include enhanced street cleaning, partnering with Police Scotland to create a dedicated city centre policing unit to increase public safety in the city centre, upgrading public toilets, and investing in the city’s parks, greenspaces, town centre streets and coastal visitor attractions.

Investment will also go towards Edinburgh’s cultural and heritage locations to secure their futures as high-quality visitor destinations. And by investing in business support and resilience, this will allow visitor experiences to become more accessible and greener, and drive fair work for visitor economy workers.

As a visitor, it will also support you while planning your visit to or during your time in Edinburgh, through the provision of new and engaging visitor information and visitor guides. Find out more about visitor levy spend on the City of Edinburgh Council’s, website page, How we’ll invest the Edinburgh Visitor Levy.

Thank you for your contribution in helping Edinburgh continue to be one of the most beautiful and enjoyable destinations in the world.

For more details see Edinburgh Visitor Levy.