Mancunians could soon be taxed for visiting Wales in plans slammed as anti-English

Mancunians could be taxed for visiting Wales, reports have said.

This autumn, the Welsh Government will be launching a tourist tax consultation and if implemented, councils can choose whether to introduce a levy for visitors. Ministers said a tourism tax would help councils pay for services and infrastructure in tourist hotspots.

The concept was agreed by Cardiff through its cooperation agreement with Plaid Cymru. But plans to introduce the 'tourism tax' will make the country’s holiday sector less competitive, the owner of a major Welsh attraction has warned.

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The news comes just as Britain grapples with soaring costs of living. Ashford Price, membership secretary of the Welsh Association of Visitor Attractions, said tourism businesses are worried and some are withholding investment plans until more is known, NorthWalesLive reports.

Given that businesses now face rising costs from energy, fuel, food and insurance, Mr Price, owner of the National Showcaves Centre for Wales, said the idea was "unfathomable" to the many tourism businesses which were hit with losses from successive Covid lockdowns.

He added: “Even more critical for Welsh tourism is that British people are forecast to see the biggest drop in their living standards since the 1950s, with £1,200 of additional household costs, and a real income drop of over 3%. Thus, for some families their future Welsh holidays, are already in doubt.

“All the other devolved areas have looked at the idea of a tourism tax. The most recent was Scotland. In the end, they all have abandoned the idea owing to the potential damage to their tourism industries.

"If this Welsh tourism tax does come about,