Travel & Tourism

Some tourists will have to pay £1 to visit Manchester from this weekend

The 'tourist tax' is here.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 31st March 2023

Manchester is becoming the first city in the UK to introduce a ‘tourist tax’ from this weekend.

Visitors staying over in one of the city centre’s hotels or apartments will now need to pay £1 per night, in a scheme known as the City Visitor Charge.

Officials hope it will raise up to £3m per year, which will ‘support future growth of the visitor economy and continued high performance for accommodation providers across the city’.

Hoteliers voted in favour of a new Manchester Accommodation Business Improvement District (BID) last year, as a way to respond to the ‘significant challenges currently facing the accommodation sector in Manchester’.

The tourist tax applies to 73 different accommodation offerings in the city centre, including Hotel Gotham, Dakota, and Kimpton Clocktower.

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Any hotel or accommodation that falls within a mapped zone, and has a rateable value of £75,000 or more, is subject to the statutory Accommodation BID charge.

The Manchester Accommodation Business Improvement District (BID), and the ‘tourist tax’ zone. Credit: Manchester ABID

Similar schemes are already in place at several major cities in Europe, but Manchester is the first city in the UK to bring in a ‘tourist tax’.

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Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “These are exciting times for Manchester city centre with an unprecedented number of new hotel rooms being added and major new visitor attractions such as Factory International and Co-op Live due to open in the months ahead.

“Seizing that opportunity means ensuring as many rooms as possible are full all year round. We believe that targeted investment through the Manchester Accommodation BID will help support the accommodation sector – which plays such a vital role in supporting jobs in our city and adding to its overall vibrancy – to thrive.”

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Adrian Ellis, General Manager of the Lowry Hotel, Chair of the Manchester Hoteliers’ Association, and Interim Spokesperson for the Manchester Accommodation BID, said: “The Manchester Hoteliers’ Association has been in discussion for several years to develop options to create new, additional funding that will support continued high performance and future growth of the visitor economy for accommodation providers across the city.

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“The result of these discussions is the Manchester Accommodation Business Improvement District proposal, and I am delighted that hoteliers’ have voted in favour of creating an innovative, business-led solution to some of the problems we have been facing as a sector.

“A supplementary fee for guests, added to the final accommodation bill, is now an established norm within the travel sector across the world, and the Manchester Accommodation BID will now bring our accommodation sector in line with European and global counterparts and competitors.”

All the hotels where Manchester’s new ‘tourist tax’ applies

  • ABode Manchester
  • AC Hotel by Marriott Manchester City Centre
  • Britannia Hotel Manchester
  • Church Street by Supercity Aparthotels
  • CitySuites Manchester
  • Clayton Hotel Manchester City Centre
  • Cove – Minshull Street
  • Crowne Plaza Manchester City Centre
  • Dakota Manchester
  • DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester – Piccadilly
  • easyHotel Manchester City Centre
  • Great John Street Hotel
  • Hotel Campanile Manchester
  • Hotel Gotham
  • Hampton by Hilton Manchester Northern Quarter
  • Hilton Manchester Deansgate
  • Holiday Inn Express Manchester CC – Oxford Road
  • Holiday Inn Express Manchester City Centre – Arena
  • Holiday Inn Manchester – City Centre
  • Hotel Brooklyn Manchester
  • Hotel Indigo Manchester – Victoria Station
  • Hyatt Regency Manchester & Hyatt House
  • Ibis Budget Manchester Centre Pollard Street
  • ibis Manchester Centre Princess Street
  • ibis Manchester Centre 96 Portland Street
  • ibis Styles Manchester Portland
  • INNSiDE by Meliá Manchester
  • Kimpton Clocktower
  • King Street Townhouse
  • Leonardo Hotel Manchester Central
  • Leonardo Hotel Manchester Piccadilly
  • Leven Manchester
  • Manchester Piccadilly Hotel
  • Maldron Hotel Manchester City Centre
  • Malmaison Manchester
  • Manchester Marriott Victoria & Albert Hotel
  • Mercure Manchester Piccadilly Hotel
  • The Midland Manchester
  • Motel One Manchester – Royal Exchange
  • Motel One Manchester – Piccadilly
  • Motel One Manchester – St Peter’s Square
  • Moxy Manchester City
  • Novotel Manchester Centre
  • Park Inn by Radisson Manchester City Centre
  • Pendulum Hotel
  • Premier Inn – Manchester (Deansgate Locks)
  • Premier Inn – Manchester City Centre Portland Street
  • Premier Inn Manchester Central
  • Premier Inn Manchester City (Piccadilly)
  • Premier Inn Manchester City Centre (Princess Street)
  • Premier Inn Manchester City Centre (Arena/Printworks)
  • Premier Inn Manchester City Centre West
  • The Edwardian Manchester, A Radisson Collection Hotel
  • Roomzzz Aparthotel Manchester City
  • Roomzzz Aparthotel Manchester Victoria
  • Sachas Hotel Manchester
  • Staycity Aparthotels – Manchester Piccadilly
  • Staycity Aparthotels – Northern Quarter
  • The Ainscow Hotel Manchester
  • The Alan
  • The Castlefield Hotel
  • The Gardens Hotel
  • The Lowry Hotel
  • Stock Exchange Hotel
  • Townhouse Hotel Manchester
  • Travelodge Manchester Ancoats
  • Travelodge Manchester Central Arena
  • Travelodge Manchester Central
  • Travelodge Manchester Piccadilly
  • Velvet
  • Whitworth Locke
  • Wilde Aparthotels by Staycity – St. Peter’s Square
  • Yotel Manchester Deansgate

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Travel & Tourism

Manchester Airport unveils bumper Christmas makeover with Santa’s Grotto and last-minute shopping ideas

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Manchester Airport unveils bumper Christmas makeover with Santa’s Grotto and last-minute shopping ideas

Christmas has officially landed at Manchester Airport, and with an estimated 1.1m of us travelling through the busy transport hub in the coming weeks, the airport is really kicking off the festivities. 

The halls have been decked with all sorts of festive touches, like a 20ft Christmas tree in Terminal 2, and plenty more glitter and sparkle around the entire airport. 

There are dozens of discounts on stocking fillers as part of Manchester Airport’s ‘Holidays Mode Activated’ campaign, along with festive menus at bars and restaurants.

A Santa’s Grotto in Terminal 1’s free play area, the Little Flyers Zone, will be open until Wednesday 18 December, where little Mancs can send off their list to the big man with a Letters to Santa Station. 

Santa himself will be on hand to greet families on Thursday and Fridays, but his elves will be there throughout the next few weeks too. 

There are more than 200 destinations you can fly directly to from Manchester, from city breaks to other Christmas markets to snatched fortnights of sunshine to flights to spend the festive break with loved ones. 

You can do your Christmas shopping at Manchester Airport with brilliant businesses like The Sculpts
You can do your Christmas shopping at Manchester Airport with brilliant businesses like The Sculpts

And whether you’re one of those who’s panicked and left your shopping until the last minute, or are biding your time to save cash on beauty, booze and fragrance at World Duty Free, you can tick everything off your list on your way home for Christmas. 

Shops at Manchester Airport include legendary toy shop Hamleys, fragrance favourite Jo Malone, and sportswear brand JD Sports. 

You can stock up on gifts like fashion accessories from shops like BOSS and Accessorize, or get all your gifts for 2024 in one go at duty free. 

And don’t miss The Sculpts, a Manchester-based design business operated by a local couple, who sell a range of handmade homeware and souvenirs including their signature alphabet tiles. 

Manchester Airport Managing Director Chris Woodroofe said: “Christmas is a magical time here at Manchester Airport. 

“We’re always proud to connect the North to the world but the importance of that role really shines through at this time of year. It feels wonderful when you see travellers having emotional reunions in arrivals and families in departures getting ready to visit Father Christmas in Lapland.

“It’s also always a popular time to fly and, having broken our passenger records every month for well over a year now, we expect this Christmas to be the biggest and busiest we’ve ever seen with over a million passengers flying in the two-week festive period. 

“Not only will those passengers receive a great service – last month 82% of our passengers waited less than five minutes to get to security – but they will also be able to soak up some of the magic we have here, including Santa’s grotto in our Little Flyers Zone in Terminal 1 and choirs singing carols at various spots in all three terminals.

“We can’t wait to welcome passengers to Manchester Airport this festive season.”

Read more: Aer Lingus is serving ‘classic’ Christmas dinners in the sky this festive period

Featured image: Supplied

Travel & Tourism

Record 29 million people expected to drive home for Christmas this year

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Drivers are being told to prepare for long queues, as a record number of festive trips are predicted across the UK ahead of the big day.

With the festive season generally known to make the roads nationwide busier than usual, travel warnings have now been issued to all those making Christmas getaway trips for the holidays – with an annual study by the RAC and INRIX suggesting that 29 million journeys are planned before Christmas Day arrives.

Nearly half of these journeys (14.3 million) are set to be crammed into this coming weekend.

But, as Christmas falls mid-week this year, the figures suggest there will be an extended period of ‘pre-Christmas panic’ on the roads, with 5.7m trips taken yesterday and today alone.

The true festive getaway kicks off tomorrow (20 December), with an expected 3 million trips on this day, before the figure then jumps up to 3.7 million and 2.9 million this coming weekend (Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 December) – which is the final weekend before the big day itself.

A record 29 million people expected to drive home for Christmas this year / Credit: Geograph

By far the single busiest day, however, has to be Christmas Eve, with 3.8 million separate getaway journeys expected by car, on top of the final flurries of commuter traffic.

To make matters worse for everyone, the RAC’s research has also revealed that a further 4.7 million trips are expected at some point between the 20 and 22 December, and 2.5 million on either the 23 or 24 December, all coming from motorists who haven’t yet decided which day they’ll travel.

When it comes to the best and worst times to travel over the festive period, the research has revealed that the worst time to travel along major routes will be between 1pm and 7pm, especially tomorrow and Saturday, so both the RAC and INRIX are suggesting that drivers set off early in the morning, or later in the evening when the heaviest of the traffic should have subsided.

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After the big day, there are an additional 4.4 million trips predicted on Boxing Day and 3.8 million on Friday 27 December.

On these days, drivers are advised to avoid major roads during the hours of 10am to 3pm, which is when journeys are expected to take significantly longer than usual.

Featured Image – Vladimir Proskurovskiy (via Unsplash)

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