Manchester's City Visitor Charge
In Manchester the charge is £1.20 per room per night, however many people share the room. Only the larger hotels and serviced apartments in and around the city centre add it.
How the charge works
Manchester's City Visitor Charge was England's first tourist charge. It is not a council tax: England's councils have no power to charge one. Instead, the city-centre hotels voted to create an Accommodation Business Improvement District (BID), which adds £1 (plus VAT) per room per night to guests' bills from 1 April 2023, for five years.
It applies at hotels and short-stay serviced apartments with a rateable value of £75,000 or more in the city centre and the nearby part of Salford. The money pays for marketing, events and conferences in the quieter months, a guest welcome and street cleaning.
What each type of stay pays
The number of guests in the room makes no difference.
| Where you stay | Tax |
|---|---|
| Larger hotel or serviced apartment in the city centre (rateable value £75,000+) | £1.20 per room per night £1 plus 20% VAT = £1.20 per room per night. |
A short stay, worked out
Larger hotel or serviced apartment in the city centre (rateable value £75,000+)
- £1.20 per room per night1 room × 2 nights × £1.20
- £2.40
Tax on this stay£2.40
Exemptions
- Smaller hotels and serviced apartments (rateable value under £75,000) and places outside the district do not charge it.
- There is no age exemption: it is charged per room.
Paying it
Your hotel adds it to the bill at check-in and passes it to Manchester Accommodation BID, the hotels' own business improvement district company (not the council).
Still unconfirmed
Treat these with care: we couldn't find them on an official page.
- Whether the district will be renewed when its five-year term ends in spring 2028.
Work out your own trip
Change the nights, the people and the kind of stay. The answer is an estimate from the published rules; the bill is your host's to work out.
Where to stay in Manchester
Booking sites don't all show the tax the same way: some include it in the price, others add it at the property. The breakdown says which.
Where these figures come from
Checked against these on 28 September 2026. If you're a host filing a return, go by the official pages, which change first.
- Manchester Accommodation BID
- Visit Manchester: Manchester Accommodation BID official
- Manchester Accommodation BID business plan (PDF)