Would you like (to pay) to be beside the seaside? Inside British resorts from Margate to St Ives considering European-style tourist taxes that could set a family of four back £140 a week ...compared to £120 for Venice

The great British seaside may be known for ice-cream pinching seagulls and penny arcade machines, but holidaying in the UK may soon set Brits back by more than the cost of a lost cone.

Tourists may soon face paying hundreds of pounds more for holidays around the UK as local authorities consider introducing a 'tourist tax' on people visiting from outside the local area.

A typical family of four could be set back up to £280 more for a week away under proposals at popular tourism destinations from London to Edinburgh. This is more expensive than tourist taxes already in place at European hotspots including Venice, which would charge £120 for the same length stay.

It comes after Thanet Council, in Kent, which covers the seaside towns of Margate and Broadstairs, discussed the idea to bring in a 'modest' levy on visitors at a council committee meeting earlier this month.

The introduction of an additional tax on daytrippers in Venice on April 25 is likely to only add to the ongoing debate.

Currently, there is no provision allowing a 'tourist tax' in any part of the UK, but both the Welsh and Scottish governments are already tabling legislation to allow local authorities to introduce them.

In England, several such taxes in all but name already exist, introduced by councils in Manchester and Liverpool using a legal loophole. This enables them to levy tax on accommodation by creating a tourism-based Business Improvement District (BID). 

The plans have split local residents around the country, but MailOnline this week found local residents in several areas touted to introduce the tax have grave concerns. 

Overnight visitors to Manchester already have to pay a £1 fee per person, per night, while tourists to Liverpool are charged an extra 1.6 percent of their total accommodation cost - set to rise to 5.5 percent over five years.

Earlier this year councillors at Cornwall Council discussed bringing in a near identical levy to Manchester, setting a family of four back £28 for a week's stay. 

In Birmingham, council documents show the £1 charge has also been under consideration since at least 2020, when it was put forward ahead of the Commonwealth Games in 2022.

Bath Council is also considering imposing the tax, but no figures have been confirmed. 

Elsewhere in England, Cambridge City Council has been debating a £2 charge per person, per night, to rise to £3 - costing a family £84 on top of any accommodation bill for a week.

Meanwhile the idea of a levy has been discussed in the London Assembly several times, with documents from 2017 assessing the expected revenue from such a charge showing scenarios were put forward which could see a charge of £10 per person, per night.

A family of four could therefore expect to pay up to £280, on top of their week's accommodation bill. 

This is compared to existing taxes in other cities in Europe, where a week's stay would incur a maximum fee of £120 in Venice, £78 in Barcelona and £96 in Lisbon or Brussels.

Other cities have various fees depending on the type of accommodation - Rome charges €4 to €10, per person, per night. 

In addition to Venice's tax on overnight stays, the city has this week introduced a further tax on entry for daytrippers, levied at €5, or £4.30. 

Protesters took to the streets at some of the city's most iconic landmarks, fearing the new tax would drive visitors away.

MailOnline visited Margate where locals and tourists gave a resounding thumbs down to the plans from Thanet Council.

Kathleen Fordham, 72, a retiree who moved to the area 17 years ago, said: 'I think it's a shame if they bring it in because the town's been attracting visitors for a long time, and we want tourists here, we don't want to deter them.

'I think you do need to discourage the amount of second homes people have.

'If you have too many of them it pushes house prices up and pushes people out of housing they might need, and it's not contributing a lot to the town either.'

Mother Hannah Furlong, 32, from London, was visiting Margate for the first time with her young family. She cited the cost of living in her opposition to the plans: 'Everywhere is quite expensive to visit these days anyway isn't it? So it's a shame to bump that price up even more.'

Employees at Peter's Fish Factory worry a tax would discourage tourists and have a negative effect on the seaside town.

Keaton Cooper, 21, who works at the seafront fish and chip shop said: 'You shouldn't be charged extra to come and stay somewhere for a little holiday, you should be able to go out and enjoy yourself.

'You're already spending money when you're down here anyway. They help the local businesses when they're down here, go to the arcades, they're already spending money, they don't need to be charged more, it's not fair.'

His colleague Susan Elvidge, 41, added: 'You already pay tax for where you live and on the way here you pay taxes too, it sounds like a greedy tax.'

But Peter Goodhew, 28, who has lived in Margate his whole life, said he's more open to the prospect of a levy due to an increase in busyness thanks to large local events: 'I've noticed a difference when it comes to Soul Festival or when Dreamland has events on.

'It would be good for business, and especially small businesses, because you see them one year and then they're gone the following year.'

At nearby Broadstairs, locals were concerned about transparency over the tax and what the money would be spent on.

Barry Jackson, a 75-year-old retiree who has lived in the charming seaside town for 35 years, said: 'I think an extra couple of pounds on a night's rental, I think that's okay.

'If they actually put the money to good use that would be great, but unfortunately living here you see so many things that need doing.

'As long as the money is used in the right way, making sure the place is kept neat a tidy.'

Angela Waugh, who moved to the area from London four years ago with her husband Stuart, said: 'My concern would be to actually guarantee that the money did go the right place rather than just being swallowed up by the council.

'If it's actually going to benefit the area, and benefit local people and benefit tourism then I wouldn't have a problem.

Mr Waugh added: 'As long as there's a clear path for getting the money and what it's going to be used for, then I wouldn't have a problem with it.

'I'd also like to know how much it's going to be, because we wouldn't want to put day trippers off because obviously the local businesses, that's how they survive.'

Conservative councillor Reece Pugh told MailOnline any tax would be put back into the local community to support the town's thriving tourist economy.

He suggested a daily charge per room could help the council tackle issues intensified in the summer months by an increase in visitors such as litter picking, bin collections and inconsiderate parking. 

'Seaside resorts and coastal communities have come under a lot of pressure in light of the rising numbers of short term stays and vacationing at home,' he said.

'There are a lot of pressures on the district, for example to keep beaches clean, to keep the streets clean. If a tourist tax is to be introduced what we don't want to do is dissuade and discourage people from visiting our beaches.'

He said that unlike council tax, where the majority of the money goes to larger county councils and to fund emergency services, a tourist tax would stay within Thanet.

'There are so many people locally whose livelihoods depend on the tourism trade. It's a really successful industry that is growing every year.'

Holidaymakers in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, also said a tourism tax could harm the traditional British seaside family holiday.

They are worried that just £2.50-a-night tax per person could add up to £70 on a week's holiday for a young family visiting Wales.

Latest figures show that a £5 levy would generate more than £43m each year, a significant boost to the country's flagging economy. 

Honeymooners Liam and Denni Reay-Carter, from Portsmouth, who were staying in a campervan in Tenby, said revenue from a tourism tax should only be used to enhance the area.

Commercial vehicle sales executive Liam, 31, said: 'If it improves the facilities for holidaymakers and locals, then I wouldn't mind paying it.

'It's a bit like going to a restaurant - if you have a really good waiter you don't mind chucking him a few quid. We have holidayed in quite a few European destinations so we are used to it.'

Denni, 27, a disability employment adviser, said: 'I read that Margate is thinking of introducing a tourism tax, it brings us in line with holiday places in Europe. It wouldn't stop us from coming to Tenby or anywhere else.'

But daytripper Nicholas White, 62, a semi-retired company director from the village of Meidrim, Carmarthenshire, said: 'I don't think a tourism tax is a good thing, it could be counter productive. 

'It depends on the level of tax but it's a bit like putting the price of cigarettes up to stop people smoking - then they put the price up because nobody smokes. A tourism tax could drive people away.'

Nearby, Stephen Monday, 39, and his partner Sheena Marshall, 42, from Bristol, said they feared a tourist tax will hit young families hardest.

Tesco distribution manager Mr Monday, 39, said: 'Going abroad you expect it but I don't know how it will go down here. I expect it will put some people off. If the tax is per person then it all adds up, especially for families.'

Ms Marshall, a mother-of-two, said: 'Going abroad you expect it, but taxing people to come to British holiday destinations will put a lot of people off, especially families with children if they are going to charge per head. It's going to be harsher for families, definitely.'

Friends Sue Drummond, 62, Linda Barrington, 61, and Chris Bray, 71, on a caravan holiday from Leominster, Shropshire, said they are already paying a tourism tax because the price of food and drink in Tenby was higher than at home.

Retired office administrator Sue, on a two-night break in Tenby, said: 'We've just been talking about the tax, we love coming here and it wouldn't put us off. But for families it will mean they won't be able to come here.'

Semi-retired Chris, 71, said: 'We pay this sort of tax when we go abroad and don't think anything of it. But even now it's not cheap here in Tenby - it was 20p to use the ladies loo - but we just put one 20p in and we all squeezed through!'

In St Ives, Cornwall, town mayor Johnnie Wells walked our journalist through the picturesque streets close to the seafront.

'Key safe, key safe, key safe,' he said. 'Many of the owners provide nothing towards the cost of local services even though they're making money on the back of this beautiful place.

'We need to find a way for visitors to pay a few pounds more. We can't call it a tourist tax - that would be compulsion and require legislation – but maybe we can call it a voluntary contribution.

'We want visitors to come here and feel a part of what we have – not just leach from it. I believe many of them will want to put something back.'

Holiday lets are, he says, symptomatic of the problem. In Back Road East alone, recent government figures revealed that 31 cottages were exempt from paying either council tax or business rates – the lifeblood of local services.

He says St Ives is working with other Cornwall town councils at Penzance and Looe, along with hospitality businesses, to launch a feasibility study on getting voluntary visitor contributions.

Matt Thomas, 44, who manages the Cornish Bakehouse pasty shop on The Wharf, agreed with the prospect of a tax.

He said: 'I've spent 26 years in hospitality. I was born in St Ives and lived here most of my life but I've also travelled the world.

'Taxing visitors is normal in the likes of France and Spain. In some countries you pay on arrival at the airport– before you've even get to where you're staying.

'Hotels and lets can easily do this. Just add a charge and send the money straight to the local council. Tens of thousands of people come to St Ives every year but local people are the ones paying for the services they want, like the beach cleaning and the toilets.'

Other business owners were skeptical: 'People make a choice about their holiday,' said Sarah Binney, 42-year-old owner of a new art café Leel ('local' in Cornish).

'Any kind of financial barrier like this may make them decide to go elsewhere on principle. Even if it is a small amount, it is off-putting for visitors.

'There's got to be a better, more interesting way than simply a toll on tourists. We should look at offering a positive not a negative.'

Visitor Rachel Taylor, 46, from Poole, Dorset, rents a cottage in the town for a few weeks each year. 'I would definitely pay it,' she said. 'I come from a tourist area and I know the impact this can have.

'Holiday towns have to be cleaned and looked after and, when they're not, it is upsetting.

'There needs to be a balance. If you want a holiday somewhere nice, with good services and where everything is clean and tidy, then you shouldn't mind paying a little bit extra.'

Gary Biram, 62, and wife Evie, 53, on holiday from Derby with their toy poodle Jemma, admitted the notion of a tourist tax was new to them.

'But I'd be happy to pay a few pounds a night if I could be sure it was going towards local services,' said Evie.

'St Ives is beautiful, but it won't stay that way unless it is properly looked after.'

Yet on Porthmeor beach the Stratfull family, on a break from Sittingbourne, Kent, sounded a note of caution as they played with three-year-old Isaac.

'I get the logic of this,' said Tracey, 63, 'I get why people living here think; all those tourists, coming to our beaches yet not paying anything to keep them looking good.

'But family holiday prices are not cheap. You work out your expenses in advance and if you're travelling from distance any kind of tourist tax is an additional cost that may make you think twice.'