V&A Director calls for tourist levy

A tourist tax providing funding for cultural insitutions should be introduced to help them deal with reduced levels of public subsidy, the Director of Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has said.

Speaking about the prospects of museums introducing admission fees, Tristram Hunt, who was appointed V&A Director in 2017, said that while government funding for staying free has "diminished massively in real terms", he does not believe charging for admission is the answer.

"Everyone says you lose 50% of your audience if you charge,” Hunt said to The Times. 

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“For us at the V&A, free entry plus a great shop — plus an ace caff, as they used to say — and a really good exhibition programme means that we prefer the big footfall with the secondary spend. 

"Even if we were allowed to charge I’m not convinced we would be better off doing it.”

Instead, Hunt said a viable alternative would be a tourism levy. 

“I would have a hotel tax providing ring-fenced funding for cultural institutions. If the Mayor of London says everyone comes to London for its cultural institutions, why don’t we make tourists contribute to their upkeep?”

Hunt's comments come at a time when many arts and culture organisations face challenges in balancing the books.

As a non-departmental public body, the V&A gets most of its income from DCMS grant-in-aid. In 2022/23 it received £67.5m, down nearly 14% on the £78.3m it received the previous year.

Tate Director Maria Balshaw, who also backs the idea, said all DCMS sponsored museums and galleries are suffering, pointing out that the amount her organisation gets from government is 50% lower in relation to costs than it was in 2010.

“Look at how Venice taxes its visitors in several different ways,” she said.

“If you are already paying £100 or more for a budget hotel room in London, an extra £4 is insignificant.”

Introduction in Manchester

Manchester became the first UK city to launch a tourist tax last year. The City Visitor Charge, a £1 per room/per night fee, was introduced in April 2023 to pay for measures aimed at attracting more visitors.

The Manchester Accommodation BID, a body representing 74 hotels and serviced apartment providers in the city, was set up in 2023 to administer funds raised from the charge - about £2.8m over the first year.

While there is no specific ringfence in place for any of the money to be spent on culture - with it predominantly being spent on street cleaning and marketing campaigns - new music events have been supported, alongside backing for events like the Manchester Flower Festival, Manchester Pride and Chinese New Year.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Government is currently pushing through legislation to give local councils the power to add a tax to overnight accommodation if they wish to do so.

The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, which was introduced to the Scottish Parliament in May 2023, and is currently at committee stage, would allow councils to choose to apply a levy in all or part of their area.

Funds raised would need to be reinvested in local facilities and services used by visitors.

Cambridge Council is also considering a proposed levy to cover people staying overnight in hotels with 10 rooms or more in the Greater Cambridge area. 

Under the plan, the charge would be £2 a night for the first two years and £3 a night for the following three years. If agreed, the charge is proposed to be introduced from January 2025.

Admission charges

While the idea of taxing tourists is growing in popularity there is a reluctant acknowledgement that museums and galleries currently offering free admission may need to start charging.

Kettle's Yard art gallery in Cambridge introduced admission charges last year in a bid to ensure its future financial sustainability.

And, in January the Welsh Government’s Deputy Culture Minister said admission fees could be introduced at Wales’s national museums.

Dawn Bowden told the Senedd's culture committee that she had asked all arm's-length bodies, including the National Museum, Cadw and National Library to look at raising money, including from entry fees or charging for services, adding that it was a "last resort".

"I have said to the National Museum they need to go away and explore that. We've had this conversation with all of our arm's-length bodies about how they can generate more income.

“It is not something that we would be considering or asking the museum to look at and to consider if it were not in a critical situation."

Jenny Waldman, Director of Art Fund, which supports museums across the UK, said reduced local authority support is affecting big civic museums and independents alike.

“And when there’s less money, people start looking for new ways to generate income," she told The Times.

"Inevitably, admission charges start being talked about.”

Ethical opposition

But the concept of charging for entry is strongly opposed by many in the sector.

“People forget what it was like before free admission was introduced,” Balshaw said.  “The V&A didn’t get anything like three million visitors a year. Tate Modern was created in the expectation that it might reach 1.5 million paying visitors. 

"It routinely gets five million on free admissions. If we started charging now we would see a dramatic reduction in not just the quantity but also the diversity of our visitors.”

Jane Richardson, Chief Executive of Wales's National Museums, said it is "fundamentally important" that people can access their national collections. 

“If charging was introduced we would have to make it possible for people on low or no incomes to come in,” she said.