Tourist tax plans and what they mean for hospitality jobs

Plans to let mayors introduce a local 'tourist tax' on visitors have prompted concern from the hospitality industry, which fears the added cost could reduce trade and put jobs at risk in hotels, restaurants and related businesses.

What this actually means right now

Nothing has happened to anyone's job yet. This is a policy proposal being contested, not a wave of redundancies. Hospitality bodies are raising concerns publicly precisely because these things are still up for debate — that's the whole point of the warning. But it's a fair signal that hospitality remains a sector where costs, footfall, and local policy decisions can move quickly and affect staffing.

If you work in hospitality, or you're job hunting in it

• Don't panic-apply elsewhere immediately. A proposal isn't a redundancy notice. Keep doing your job well and keep half an eye on how your employer is talking about costs and trading.
• Do keep your CV current anyway. Sector uncertainty is exactly when it pays to have an up-to-date, ready-to-send CV, so you're not scrambling if things do change.
• Widen your net slightly. If you're actively looking, consider roles in hospitality-adjacent areas — events, retail, facilities, hotel operations — where your customer service and shift-management skills transfer directly.
• Track the detail, not the headline. Which cities, what rate, what's exempted — these details matter far more to your local job market than the general story.

What to do with your CV either way

If you're in hospitality and applying for new roles, lean into what's genuinely valuable and transferable: cash handling, rota management, dealing with difficult customers under pressure, upselling, food safety compliance, multitasking during peak periods. These read well outside hospitality too, not just within it.

Employers in this sector often hire quickly and read CVs fast between shifts, so keep yours tight, specific to the role, and free of generic filler. If you're applying to a hotel group versus an independent restaurant versus an events company, the emphasis should shift each time — busy operators notice when it hasn't.

None of this is about predicting exactly what happens with tourist tax policy. It's about not being caught flat-footed if your sector's conditions shift, which hospitality workers already know happens for all sorts of reasons — seasonality, energy costs, footfall, weather.

If you do need to update your CV for a new role, FixMyCV tailors it to the specific job you're applying for — without inventing experience you don't have.

Source: The Guardian. FixMyCV summarises and comments; we never reproduce articles.