Speeches by Hinds.

“Do they have a choice? It is just a bed tax, right? Any overnighting visitor I think would—”

“I do have one more question. Is there a particular focus, or does it come under you to bid for business events, the big conventions, fairs and so on?”

“If I am an events organiser, do I have one person in your organisation who I go through and then that person does all the—”

“Whether it is large events or smaller events, one theme that we have heard in this inquiry is the difficulty, the frustration, or the admin cost of having to deal with multiple branches of the public sector, local authorities, policing, transport, and so on. It was suggested that you have overcome that with the proverb…”

“Beyond VisitScotland, is there anything else in the set-up that simplifies that process of all these different public sector bodies that I need to work with?”

“Can I ask about the visitor levy? This is quite a big change coming to the Scottish travel and tourism sector this year, right?”

“Totally understanding and respecting that this is not your specialist area, I think VisitScotland leads the visitor levy expert group, is that right?”

“If I am an events organiser, do I have one person in your organisation who I go through and then that person does all the—”

“Beyond VisitScotland, is there anything else in the set-up that simplifies that process of all these different public sector bodies that I need to work with?”

“Whether it is large events or smaller events, one theme that we have heard in this inquiry is the difficulty, the frustration, or the admin cost of having to deal with multiple branches of the public sector, local authorities, policing, transport, and so on. It was suggested that you have overcome that with the proverb…”

“Can I ask about the visitor levy? This is quite a big change coming to the Scottish travel and tourism sector this year, right?”

“I am not quite done, but I totally understand that. I think that the Edinburgh rate is 5%, Glasgow will be 5%, Stirling 3% and Aberdeen 7%. Without having to know the details of how all that works, let’s assume that gets passed on entirely in rate. It may not be 100%, but let’s assume it is. Would you expect that to ha…”

“Do they have a choice? It is just a bed tax, right? Any overnighting visitor I think would—”

“I do have one more question. Is there a particular focus, or does it come under you to bid for business events, the big conventions, fairs and so on?”

“From July, in Edinburgh, Glasgow?”

“From July, in Edinburgh, Glasgow?”

“We know about Edinburgh, Glasgow, West Dunbartonshire, Aberdeen, Sterling, and there are some other consultations still outstanding.”

“Totally understanding and respecting that this is not your specialist area, I think VisitScotland leads the visitor levy expert group, is that right?”

“We know about Edinburgh, Glasgow, West Dunbartonshire, Aberdeen, Sterling, and there are some other consultations still outstanding.”

“Particularly relevant to your part of the thing, first of all is the revenue ringfenced? You are in the business of bringing great events to Scotland that generate economic activity and joy, but they require marketing and they require organisation, they require facilities and so on. Do you have a guarantee that the rev…”