Public support for a potential tourist tax in Edinburgh is on the up

The Scottish Government has proposed a tax of £1 per room, per night to be added onto tourists' visits.

Sadly, for those of you living anywhere near the Royal Mile, the introduction of tourist tax won't offer any respite for your painful trek to uni, as the survey revealed that 92 per cent of people would still come to Edinburgh should this happen.

The survey aimed to find out whether people would still visit Edinburgh during off-peak periods if higher costs were incurred throughout their stay, with figures revealing that Edinburgh would still be a hot spot despite the potential increase of tax to £4.

John Donnelly, Marketing Edinburgh's Chief-Executive, expressed concerns over the disparity in numbers of tourists between the summer and autumn months.

Donnelly commented: “There is a real need to find a solution that enables sustainable investment in Edinburgh’s growing tourism industry while supporting the council to manage the consequences of that success. A tourist tax is a proven way of doing that in other leading destinations."

Tourist tax is commonplace in other destination cities such as Rome and Paris – so for "pro-taxers", it's only fitting that Edinburgh follows suit.