A Lake District landscape charity has released the results of its poll asking if visitors to the region should be subject to a tourist tax.
Friends of the Lake District said its survey of over 2,000 people revealed that 68% of Cumbrian residents and 64% of past or future visitors to the county strongly support or tend to support a visitor charge to fund ways of protecting and enhancing the landscapes of the Lake District National Park.
The survey was carried out by YouGov on the charity’s behalf.
Michael Hill, Friends of the Lake District CEO, said: “This is a clear signal that residents of Cumbria consider a visitor charge to be necessary and that visitors would be willing to pay, as they do in many cities and regions across Europe”.
Choosing the fairest type of visitor charge
When asked which form of charge would be fairest, those surveyed favoured a visitor vehicle charge over an overnight stay charge, with 44% voting for the former, and 34% for the latter.
Many respondents felt a visitor vehicle charge would directly target the cause of many social and environmental problems – congestion, inappropriate parking, road disrepair, pollution, damage to verges – which also impact upon visitors’ experience of the national park.
Some also thought it was fairer, as day visitors in cars add to the strain on infrastructure without necessarily contributing much in economic terms.
A visitor vehicle charge also rewards those who travel into the Lake District by train or bus and who would therefore not pay.
Priorities for the revenues raised
When asked how funds from a visitor levy should be spent, respondents favoured cleaning up the lakes (63%), improving transport (53%), and adding more rangers to maintain footpaths and clear litter (52%).
Funds from a visitor vehicle charge could be targeted only at transport improvements, so this would address issues that are of high importance to residents and visitors alike.
The level at which a charge should be set
Of those surveyed who support a charge, 34% felt that the maximum level at which it should be set should not exceed £2 while 45% considered a maximum charge of between £3 and £5 per visit to be appropriate.
19% were willing to go above £6 per visit. A charge of a few pounds could raise significant sums to help manage the impacts of tourism, given that there are 18 million visitors a year to the Lake District.
Next steps
A working group established by the Lake District National Park Partnership has recently explored options to provide a substantial increase in funding and delivery of sustainable transport in the Lake District.
It is hoped that its conclusions will feed into the development of a new Partnership Management Plan for 2025-30.
Mr Hill said: “The results of our YouGov poll show that there’s strong support for a small Lake District visitor charge among both residents and visitors.
“As the draft partnership plan is put out for public consultation this autumn, it is essential that it contains a strong vision of sustainable transport in the Lake District and a commitment to explore, in a timely manner, the implementation of a visitor vehicle charge.
“At Friends of the Lake District, we believe that this would be an important first step towards ‘regenerative tourism’, where visitors make a contribution towards improving the landscape they love.”
