The past month has seen a flurry of activity to tackle the possible introduction of a ‘tourist’ or ‘bed tax’, with the Lyons Review still considering such a levy on guest accommodation as a way of raising funds for local government, and public awareness is also rising.

Last week, DCMS tourism minister James Purnell was guest at a meeting of the BHA Council, also attended by VisitBritain chief executive Tom Wright. I also attended a meeting of the Tourism Alliance board – at which shadow tourism minister Malcolm Moss offered his support for the fight against a bed tax – and I also met shadow chancellor George Osborne in early March to discuss the future funding of local government. I also chaired a seminar held by Vantis at the Commonwealth Club last week where the same issue figured strongly.

Travelodge chief executive Grant Hearn’s comments in Caterer & Hotelkeeper last month may have ruffled some feathers within the hospitality industry, but it has brought the issue out into the public arena.

A Travelodge survey of 2,000 consumers last week revealed that 85 per cent of British consumers already think that UK hotels are too expensive. The survey also found that if faced with added costs from a bed tax 64.5 per cent would be put off holidaying in the UK, and that 77 per cent would reconsider the length of their stay.

Compare this with figures from VisitBritain released in January which showed that while visitor numbers have doubled to record levels over the last 25 years, spending by inbound tourists has decreased so much that the tourism industry is now faced with a £17m deficit.

Do we now wish to dissuade foreign visitors from travelling to UK as well as our own domestic tourists?

We also face a disparity regarding approaches and tax levels between local authorities, with one local authority overseeing a particularly lucrative source (think London) potentially levying a higher charge than the others to cover the shortfall in their less-than-lucrative area. This would be very damaging to businesses in the affected areas, and having no vote to try to overturn any local authority tax making decisions, they would be almost powerless to prevent it.

The number of visitors to London in 2005 topped 14 million, up 7 per cent from 2004, but the number of domestic visitors had fallen by 6 per cent from 2004.

The hotel and tourism industry is one of the growing industries of this country – albeit we work in a high-cost economy. To introduce a 5 per cent bed tax – when we already pay 17.5 per cent – would mean a 25 per cent tax rate. This is not the way to carry on growing a particular sector.

Moreover, why should one sector be penalised to pay for general services in a local community when other sectors would not pay the same price?

If we are going to address the problems of local authority funding in this country then there must be parity across the board, and we must endeavour to avoid a situation where one industry bears the brunt of the cost – another cost levied at the expense of the consumer.