Over the past few years many UK destinations have introduced measures to help cope with overtourism, from tourist taxes in Edinburgh and Manchester, to some places even banning holiday lets. Soon, the islands of Orkney could introduce a £5 visitors’ entry fee to help mitigate overcrowding in the remote Scottish location.
The archipelago is Britain’s most visited spot for cruise ships, as thousands of tourists from Germany, Italy, America and England visit every year to see its rugged beauty, neolithic sites and medieval cathedral. It’s thought that Orkney hosts around 450,000 visitors a year, 20 times the local population of 22,000. However, the small and remote islands don’t have the infrastructure to cope with the volume of tourists.
Now local authorities are calling on the Scottish government to introduce a visitors’ entrance levy to the isles. Orkney Islands Council and Shetland and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles council) have asked the government to create new legislation that would see the fee added to cruise, ferry and plane fares to the archipelago.
Martin Fleet, chair of Destination Orkney, calculated that a flat rate £5 charge for every visitor could raise around £2 million a year, which could go towards building new toilets, coach parks and paths for tourists to use.
‘Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles, which have small population numbers, have incredible sites which people want to come and see, but we’ve got to make sure that we protect those assets for future generations who live here and also those that want to visit,’ Fleet told the Guardian.
‘We don’t want people to stop visiting here. We just need to be very mindful about how it’s managed.’
The Scottish government confirmed it was considering a point of entry levy as part of a wider consultation on introducing a tax specifically for cruise ships, which local authorities would be able to put towards improving tourism infrastructure.
The most over-touristed places in the UK, according to Reddit.
The ‘most picturesque’ scenic rail line in Britain has reopened after a £1.4 million upgrade.
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out UK newsletter for the latest UK news and the best stuff happening across the country.