How much is the Wales visitor levy for campsites?

75 pence per person per night for a campsite pitch or a shared room such as a hostel dormitory, and £1.30 per person per night for all other visitor accommodation. People under 18 do not pay the 75p rate, so children staying on a campsite pitch are not charged at all. The levy applies to stays of 31 nights or less.

When does the Wales visitor levy start?

The duty to register with the Welsh Revenue Authority starts on 1 October 2026, and applies whether or not your council ever introduces a levy. The levy itself cannot start anywhere in Wales before April 2027, and only in council areas that choose to adopt it after giving the required notice. Cardiff has said it intends to introduce one from 2027.

Do campsites have to register with the Welsh Revenue Authority?

Yes. Registration is compulsory for anyone who takes payment for overnight stays in Wales, including campsites, CL and CS style sites, glamping, holiday cottages and spare rooms, whether you let for a single night, seasonally or all year. It is free, takes most people under 15 minutes, and there are penalties for failing to register.

How does a family of four work out on the Welsh levy?

Two adults and two children on a campsite pitch for three nights: the children are exempt from the 75p campsite rate, so the levy is 2 adults x 75p x 3 nights, which is £4.50 for the whole stay. The same family in a holiday cottage would pay the £1.30 rate for all four people, which is £15.60.

How often do I file a Welsh visitor levy return?

It depends on how much levy you owe. If your levy for the first year is £1,000 or less you can file annually, or quarterly if you prefer. Above £1,000 you must file quarterly. Returns and payment go to the Welsh Revenue Authority, and there are penalties for late registration, late filing and late payment.

Who collects the Welsh visitor levy?

You collect it from the guest and pay it to the Welsh Revenue Authority, which administers both the register and the levy nationally. That is different from Scotland, where each council runs its own scheme. The money raised goes to the local authority for the area to spend on tourism and local services.

Wales Visitor Levy for Campsites

Two things, not one

The Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 18 September 2025 and does two separate jobs. Owners keep muddling them, and the one that catches people out is the first.

One: a compulsory national register. From 1 October 2026, anyone who takes payment for overnight stays anywhere in Wales must register themselves and their premises with the Welsh Revenue Authority. Campsites, touring parks, glamping, holiday cottages, spare rooms, the lot. This applies everywhere in Wales, whether or not your council ever introduces a levy, and there are penalties for not doing it.

Two: a levy each council can choose to charge. The earliest any Welsh council can start charging is April 2027, and only after giving the Welsh Revenue Authority the required 12 months' notice. Cardiff has said it intends to introduce one from 2027. Some councils will never bother. Unlike Scotland, the rates are set nationally rather than council by council, so you know the numbers already.

The rates

Accommodation	Rate	Under 18s
Campsite pitches (tent, touring, campervan)	75p per person per night	Exempt, pay nothing
Shared rooms (hostels, dormitories, bunkhouses)	75p per person per night	Exempt, pay nothing
All other accommodation (hotels, B&Bs, self-catering, holiday cottages, glamping units let as accommodation)	£1.30 per person per night	Charged

The levy applies to paid overnight stays of 31 nights or less. The Act also allows a local authority to add a premium on top of the standard rates, subject to Welsh Government regulations, so keep an eye on your council's announcements.

What that looks like on a real booking

Two adults, two children, three nights on a touring pitch. The children are exempt from the campsite rate, so the levy is 2 × 75p × 3 nights = £4.50 for the whole stay.
A couple in a glamping pod for two nights. A pod let as its own accommodation sits on the higher rate: 2 × £1.30 × 2 nights = £5.20.
A solo camper on a bank holiday weekend, four nights. 1 × 75p × 4 = £3.

Two details matter more than the pennies. First, the Welsh levy is per person, not per pitch, so you need reliable party numbers on every booking rather than a rough headcount at the gate. Second, the split between a pitch and a unit of accommodation decides which rate you use, which is worth getting straight if you run both.

Registering: what you need and when

The duty to register starts on 1 October 2026, with a window of about six months to get it done before penalties start to apply. Registration is free and most people finish it in under 15 minutes. You will be asked for:

your personal and business contact details
your trading name, if you use one
the address of the accommodation
the type of accommodation
the maximum number of guests
your usual operating season

Register even if you only open in July and August, only let a field for a handful of weekends, or only take five vans at a time. The Act is written around whether you take money for overnight stays, not how often. Our full walkthrough is here: registering your Welsh campsite with the WRA.

Filing and paying the levy

Once your council introduces a levy, you collect it from guests and pay it to the Welsh Revenue Authority, which runs the whole thing nationally. How often you file depends on the size of your bill:

£1,000 or less of levy in the first year: file once a year, or quarterly if you would rather spread it.
More than £1,000: file quarterly.

Put that in context. A 20 pitch site averaging two adults a pitch and 60% occupancy across a 200 night season collects roughly £3,600 of levy, so most working touring parks will land in the quarterly bracket. A small CL style site letting five pitches for a short season may well stay under £1,000 and file annually.

There are penalties for late registration, late filing and late payment, which is the strongest argument for keeping the underlying numbers somewhere you can query rather than somewhere you have to count.

What to do now, before October

Diarise 1 October 2026. Registration is the deadline that applies to every Welsh site, levy or no levy.
Start capturing party numbers properly. A per person levy is only as accurate as your guest counts, and adults and children need to be separated because of the under 18 exemption.
Check your pitch and unit types. Decide now which of your accommodation sits on 75p and which sits on £1.30, and set it up that way.
Decide how you will show it. A separate line on the invoice reads as a government charge. A quietly raised pitch price reads as you getting more expensive.
Watch your council. The register is national. Whether you ever charge a levy is a local decision.

Wales visitor levy FAQs for campsite owners

How much is the Wales visitor levy for a campsite?

75p per person per night on a campsite pitch or in a shared room such as a hostel dormitory, and £1.30 per person per night for other accommodation. People under 18 do not pay the 75p rate, so children on a campsite pitch are not charged. It applies to stays of 31 nights or less.

When does it start?

Registration with the Welsh Revenue Authority is compulsory from 1 October 2026. The levy itself cannot start anywhere before April 2027, and only in councils that adopt it after giving the required 12 months' notice. Cardiff has said it intends to introduce one from 2027.

Do I have to register if my council is not charging a levy?

Yes. The register covers the whole of Wales and is separate from the levy. Anyone taking payment for overnight stays must register, including seasonal sites, spare rooms and small farm campsites.

What does a family of four pay?

On a campsite pitch, two adults and two children for three nights come to £4.50 for the whole stay, because the children are exempt from the 75p rate. The same family in a holiday cottage would pay £15.60, because the £1.30 rate applies to everyone.

Does the levy apply to glamping pods?

A pod, cabin or lodge let as a unit of accommodation sits on the £1.30 rate rather than the 75p campsite pitch rate. A bell tent pitched on a camping field is a closer call, so check the Welsh Revenue Authority guidance for your setup rather than guessing.

How often do I have to file a return?

Annually if your levy for the first year is £1,000 or less, and quarterly above that. You can choose quarterly even when you are under the threshold. Returns and payment go to the Welsh Revenue Authority.

What are the penalties?

There are penalties for failing to register, for filing late and for paying late. The registration penalty is the one most likely to catch a small site out, because it applies even where no levy is being charged in your area.

Is CampSuite™ free for small Welsh sites?

Yes. CampSuite™ is free for up to 100 pitches, forever, so most Welsh camping fields, CL style sites and touring parks pay nothing. See pricing for larger parks.

The Wales visitor levy for campsites

Two things, not one

The rates

What that looks like on a real booking

Registering: what you need and when

Filing and paying the levy

What to do now, before October

Per person means per person

Under 18s excluded automatically

Pitches and units kept apart

A return you can run in minutes

Wales visitor levy FAQs for campsite owners

Be ready for October, not surprised by it