Today, we delivered an open letter calling for Glasgow City Council to invest in housing, infrastructure and public services using money from their proposed tourist tax.

Read our letter in full below:

Dear Susan Aitken, 

We, the undersigned, support the introduction of a visitor levy in Glasgow and call on Glasgow City Council to ensure that the revenues the tax could generate benefit the residents and workers of our city. 

Latest figures show that visitors spent £2.35 billion in Glasgow in 2023, almost 50% more than in 2022. At the same time, 36,000 people are on social housing waiting lists and 7,266 people are in temporary accommodation, including 2,765 children. 

We believe that there are four key areas where the money generated by the visitor levy should go. 

First, on housing. Glasgow council recently declared a housing emergency - we believe that you should be using any new source of revenue to help tackle the housing crisis in our city, not to reinvest the money generated from the tax back into tourism.

Second, on public services. In the past decade and particularly since the pandemic, community centres, sports facilities and libraries across Glasgow have been closed permanently or indefinitely. New revenue should be used to support our crumbling public services.

Thirdly, on waste management. Years of cuts to waste collection services has led to Glasgow being labelled one of the filthiest cities in the world. Both workers and residents are deeply affected by this waste crisis resulting in massive rat infestation as rats are jumping out of bins or even appearing in toilet pans. 

And lastly, on infrastructure, specifically, addressing the pothole crisis. Glasgow gained a reputation as the ‘pothole capital’ of Britain with potholes claims rocketing in the last few years. This revenue could be a helpful opportunity to inject new money into crucial road infrastructure.

Tourists are welcome in our city, but businesses like Airbnb do not need an injection of public funds - they are already raking in massive profits. 

We are demanding:

• The tourist tax to be set at 8.5%
• The council to use the funds raised to

• • Invest in our public services & infrastructure
  • Build more social housing

This open letter has been set up by Living Rent Glasgow, Tenants’ and Community Union and signed by the following:

Bryan Simpson, Lead Organiser, Unite Hospitality

Chris Mitchell, GMB

Gordon Martin, Regional Organiser, RMT

Tom Queen, Branch Organiser, Unite University of Glasgow Branch

Sophie Watson, Branch Chair, UNISON University of Glasgow and Glasgow School of Art

Tom Napper, Kinning Park Community Council

David MacIver, Community Manager West, Shelter Scotland

Selina Hales, Refuweegee

Tressa Burke, Chief Executive Officer, Glasgow Disability Alliance

Maria Carvalho, Climate & Health Campaign & Programme Lead, Medact

Pinar Aksu, Maryhill Integration Network