A TAX on tourists should be introduced in Glasgow to raise millions of pounds a year, according to a Labour councillor.

The idea would see a levy charged with every hotel room booking.

Nowhere in the UK has introduced a tourist tax yet, but it is common in many parts of Europe.

Malcolm Cunning, Labour councillor, wants the council to have powers to impose a charge to pay for the infrastructure needed to meet the growing tourism demand.

Mr Cunning has put a motion for debate at the next meeting of the full council backing a recent announcement by local government body Cosla to give the powers to councils to charge.

His plan is for either a £1 a night room tax which he said would raise around £4million a year or for a tax of 5% of the cost of the room which he estimates to raise around £12m a year.

Visitors to Glasgow grew by 17%last year worth more than £2billion and supporting thousands of jobs in the hospitality trade.

The city plans to grow the numbers more targeting an extra one million tourists by 2023.

Mr Cunning said: “The introduction of a Transient Visitors Tax would allow for greater investment in those assets that attract and support visitors to the city and help to improve the quality of services that the city is able to provide.”

In Barcelona a tax of between 40p and £2 is charged. In Paris a 10% extra is charged on the French Tax de Sejour of up to £3.50 a night.

Berlin, Rome, Amsterdam and Brussels are among the other major European cities where a tourist tax is charged.

The hotel industry has consistently opposed calls for a tourist tax.

Business leaders are also not convinced.

Stuart Patrick, chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce said: “We’ve yet to be persuaded about the merits of a tourist tax for Glasgow. The city attracts over 2 million tourists per year while pursuing an ambitious multi-agency strategy to reach a target of three million overnight stays per annum by 2023, a goal which doesn’t obviously align with a proposed levy for visitors.”

Glasgow City Council has not adopted a policy position on whether or not it is in favour of a tourist tax.