Scottish Labour has called for a new tourist tax aimed specifically at campervans visiting the Highlands, citing mounting pressure on rural infrastructure and public services.
According to an article by Yahoo News, Shaun Fraser, the party’s candidate for Inverness & Nairn in the upcoming Holyrood election, said the region’s roads “cannot cope” with the rising number of vehicles, especially along popular routes such as the North Coast 500.
The proposal would form part of a broader “fair and well–designed” visitor levy, with funds earmarked to maintain roads and support services increasingly stretched by high tourist traffic.
Highland Council data shows that nearly 36,000 campervans toured the region in 2022 alone. This surge has been accompanied by a spike in complaints from residents about road congestion, illegal overnight parking, damaged verges, and overflowing waste bins.
“Tourism is a key aspect of the Highland economy, and it is important that we are sensitive with the introduction of such a scheme, but there has been a 65% increase in tourist numbers since 2012 and local infrastructure has not kept up with these demands,” Fraser said.
“Scotland — and indeed the UK more broadly — is an outlier on this issue. 75% of European countries charge some form of visitor levy, including tourist hotspots such as Amsterdam, Barcelona and Venice. It has not harmed tourism in these places one bit, and it provides critical money to fund local amenities.”
He added that the growth of the North Coast 500 has dramatically changed the landscape of tourism in the Highlands, noting the impact of motorhome traffic on single-track roads and small communities.
“Our roads cannot cope with this. It is a mixed blessing,” Fraser said. “Highland communities and local services must benefit from tourism. I support a fair and well–designed visitor levy and sensible measures to manage the impact of campervans.”
“I would be open to looking at options attached to campervans, including number plate recognition to charge visiting campervans using Highland roads. I think that this should be considered,” Fraser added.
Highland Council recently completed a four-month public consultation on its draft visitor levy scheme and is now reviewing the results ahead of a full council vote.
If passed, the levy could come into effect by winter 2026—the earliest allowed under the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act passed last year.
That law gives councils the authority to impose a charge on overnight stays and to reinvest the funds into tourism-supporting infrastructure.
Highland Council estimates that a 5% accommodation levy could raise up to £10 million annually, a figure that would rise further with campervan-specific charges.
The proposal has not been without controversy. While Scottish Labour has consistently supported visitor levies, some within the party have expressed concern about their potential impact on working-class families.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves recently criticized the idea, describing it as a tax on “ordinary working people.”
Nonetheless, the plan has faced its strongest resistance from within the hospitality industry, especially from small business owners who worry the tax could push them over the VAT threshold.
The Highlands Hotel Association has called the plan “exceptionally frightening,” pointing out that the levy, not being VAT-exempt, could be counted toward annual turnover.
This would trigger added costs and administrative burdens for small operators close to the £90,000 threshold.
Jamie Stone, MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, raised the issue in Parliament, urging the Chancellor to zero-rate any tourist levy to protect small businesses.
“Scottish councils now have the power to introduce a tourism levy. That has gone down extremely badly with the hospitality sector. In particular, they fear a tax on a tax — that would be VAT. Will the Government look at zero–rating that in the event that a tourism levy is introduced?”
Reeves responded, “In the end, it is up to the Scottish Government which additional taxes they introduce, but as with income tax, the SNP never takes the side of ordinary working people.”
The potential implementation of a campervan-specific tourist tax in the Highlands signals a shift in how destinations manage high-volume mobile tourism.
As regions increasingly look to balance environmental preservation and infrastructure sustainability with economic opportunity, campground operators must be prepared for evolving regulatory landscapes.