Manchester City Tax - April 2023

Manchester has announced plans to introduce a tax on people visiting the city for overnight stays. 

 

Guests staying overnight will pay an extra £1 per room per night on their accommodation from April 2023, with 74 hotels and short-stay serviced apartments already signed up to the scheme.  The tax will be introduced in April 2023 and be used to fund the new Manchester Accommodation Business Improvement District (ABID), which aims to “improve the visitor experience” and “support future growth of the visitor economy” over the next five years.” https://www.businesstraveller.com/business-travel/2022/12/13/manchester-to-introduce-tourist-tax/#:~:text=Manchester%20has%20announced%20plans%20to,signed%20up%20to%20the%20scheme  

 

How can this be managed in Rezlynx?

 

There are a number of ways to manage an automatic addition of £1 per room per night to a room.  Of course, a simple upsell could be applied, but this would rely on the users remembering to add it to every new booking.  The process can be automated in two main ways. 

The first workflow is the simplest, using the ‘auto-add at check in’ feature.  This means that if for any reason the charge needs to be removed or routed to another bill split/folio it can be easily done. 

The second workflow would apply to our hotels using Kiosk.

It is important to note that neither option will display the £1 per room per night in the total for stay or rate breakdown on the confirmation.  They will simply post when the Autoposter runs each night and posts the rate plans (along with any upsells added at booking too). 

The benefit of adding a new analysis code for either of the options below is that the end of period reports will display the city tax on a separate line, so that the finance team knows how much should be paid to the Manchester ABID.

 

 

Simple Workflow (for sites not using Kiosks)

1. Create a new analysis code - System > Codes and Rules > Analysis Codes.

Note: if you use the financial export routine, ensure that your accounts team are aware and that this code is mapped correctly once created. 

 

 

2. Create a new product called ‘CITY_TAX’ (or similar) - System > Rates > Products 

• Ensure your product has been set to Product Type = Bedroom Check in Offer
• Charge Mode = Per Room
• Posting mode should be Simple, and Day of Arrival and Resident days (as we want this £1 charge to post every night that the guests are resident)
• Value Type = Fixed
• Value = 1
• Select the analysis code you just created
• Auto Add At Check In = tick
• Auto Add Value = 1 (£1)
• Auto Add Quantity = 1 (1 x £1 per room per night) 

Once this has been set up, the product will be automatically added on the check in page (and could be removed if needed) 

Once resident, the charge will automatically post for every night that the guest is resident

 

Additional Workflow using City Tax  (only for sites using Kiosks)

 

1. Follow Setup 1 as above and create a new analysis code. 

2. Then Navigate to City Tax and Surcharges -System > Rates > City Tax and Surcharges 

3. Create a new rule using the newly created analysis code

• Set the description as it should appear on the guest bill. 
• Mode should be per room
• value is 1 for £1 per room per night. 
• No need to configure the other rules as this is a simple City Tax setup. 

4. Navigate to your rates and apply the new City Tax rule to all of the rates that should use it.  Remember to save!! 

 

 

Postings will display in the same way as the first workflow mentioned above. 

 

What about OTA bookings where a vitrual credit card is used?

The simplest option would be to update the rate description (via your extranet) to note that an additional city tax charge of £1 per room per night is payable at the property.  Alternatively, if you wish to show the uplift included in the rates, you will need to follow these steps:

1. Update any product rules used on OTA rate plans and add a product called City Tax, ticking it for day of arrival and resident days.

 

2. This change will then apply for any new reservations made.  If you wish to apply the additional £1 to any existing reservations from the 1st April, you will need to contact support to arrange a reservation re-save.  This will need to be done ON the 1st April in order to update your rates accordingly.