V&A boss repeats calls for museum tourist tax

Government should introduce a tourist charge on overseas visitors at hotels and other tourist accommodation, with the funds ringfenced for cultural infrastructure, the director of the Victoria and Albert Museum has said.

Tristam Hunt, who has previously suggested a tourist tax to help support the culture sector, wrote in The Financial Times that London is now “a crazy outlier” in not having a visitor levy to manage mass tourism.

“According to an upcoming report from The Cultural Policy Unit, a small percentage-based charge (around 3-5%) on overnight stays – rather than some form of toothless voluntary levy – could generate well over £1bn a year,” wrote Hunt.

“Sir Sadiq Khan and his fellow city mayors should be responsible for allocating these budgets, but with funds hypothecated towards art, culture and place making.”

Hunt also discussed how a UK Citizen Culture App could help museums and galleries easily differentiate between foreign and domestic visitors so that the former could be charged entrance fees.

However, he also flagged ethical considerations with such a plan, noting that “any perceived barrier to entry deters hard-to-reach visitors the most”.

“In a multicultural city like London, some minority communities might not like the idea of proving their citizenship to enter an historically intimidating space – such places often already have complex associations around race and class,” said Hunt.

He also noted that the introduction of entrance charges would require a specific VAT scheme to underpin free entry, which would need to change, and that visitor spending in museum shops and catering could be affected.

He added: “Treasury has a nasty habit of lowering public funding as it sees self-generated income growing. If that happened, all this hassle might end up, at best, netting out.”