Proposed by Councillor Wade

Liberal Democrat member motion

Council notes that Oxford is a world-famous city. It is also the eleventh fastest-growing city in the UK but is still small in size – currently 161,000 residents.

The Under Secretary for Tourism, Tracey Crouch, has identified the need to encourage a higher percentage of tourists to move out of London. Currently 36.1 million international visitors come to the UK each year but 51% of them never leave London.

Oxford, not forgetting Bicester Village, is an easy destination, but it already receives seven million tourists p.a. which puts a strain on the goodwill of the local population and on the fabric of the city.

Since the fall in the pound, Oxford Tourism has been ‘booming’ (Oxford Mail: December 2016) and Bicester Village is now ‘one of Britain’s biggest tourist draws’ (Financial Times: April 2017)

There have been recent expressions of discontent, publicised in the international press, in the tourist cities of Venice, Barcelona and Majorca, and we should recognize that Oxford is not immune to these concerns.

The Council therefore asks the City Executive Board to commission a report about and to consider the following:

1.    discussions with other tourist cities and boroughs e.g. Bath, London Borough of Camden, about a joint approach to the introduction of a tourist levy, which will require Parliamentary legislation. This could be in the form of a hotel bed tax. Camden estimates that a £1 p.n. bed tax would raise £5m p.a. for tourism improvements, street cleaning etc;

2.    liaison with OxLEP, Experience Oxfordshire, and other organisations involved with the local tourist industry;

3.    making applications to the Events Industry Board and the Tourism Industry Council for event and tourist infrastructure funding;

4.    consider options for better coach parking arrangements and group management in the city centre;

5.    making an application for Unesco World Heritage status – already granted to Bath.

Councillor Wade proposed her submitted motion as set out in the agenda and briefing note, and accepted the amendment set out in the briefing note proposed by Councillor Clarkson.

Councillor Landell-Mills seconded the amended motion.

After debate and on being put to the vote, the amended motion was declared carried.

Council agreed the following motion:

Council notes that Oxford is a world-famous city. It is also the eleventh fastest-growing city in the UK but it is still small in size - currently 161,000 residents.

The Under-Secretary for Tourism, Tracey Crouch, has identified the need to encourage a higher percentage of tourists to move out of London. Currently 36.1 million international visitors come to the UK each year but 51% of them never leave London.

Oxford, not forgetting Bicester Village, is an easy destination, but it already receives seven million tourists pa which puts a strain on the goodwill of the local population and on the fabric and environment of the city.

Since the fall in the pound, Oxford tourism has been 'booming' (Oxford Mail: December 2016) and Bicester Village is now 'one of Britain's biggest tourist draws' (Financial Times: April 2017).

There have been recent expressions of discontent, publicised in the international press, in other tourist cities in the UK and Europe.

The Council therefore asks the City Executive Board 

1.    to continue to build its links with other tourist cities, such as Bath and the London Borough of Camden to share best practice on tourist management and to look at a joint approach with them on the introduction of a tourist levy, which will require Parliamentary legislation. This would enable tourist cities such as Oxford to spend money on additional street cleaning and the enforcement of restrictions on parking and idling coach engines.

2.    to continue to work with OxLEP, Experience Oxfordshire and other organisations involved with the local tourist industry;

3.    to continue to work with Oxfordshire County Council and Experience Oxfordshire on better options for coach parking and the management of large tourist groups in the city centre.