A a levy on sporting and entertainment events and a hotel tax have already been discussed as possible ways to offset some of the costs of staging the Games.

"This is the possibility that everybody might pay a small sum, perhaps a pound, when they go through Birmingham airport," Birmingham City Council Leader Ian Ward, who led the city's successful bid, said, according to the Birmingham Post. 

"Birmingham Airport currently has 13 million people going through it each and every year, so that would raise a substantial sum of money.

"The other option that we’re looking at is a hotel bed tax. 

"Now neither of these things can be done without us having a conversation with Government, and Government legislation. 

"And the [West Midlands] Mayor [Andy Street] has been very, very helpful in trying to open doors for us to have that conversation with Government.

"But there’ll be an opportunity here for the Government to pilot this tax in Birmingham, with all of the proceeds ring-fenced for investment in the Games. 

"And then in 2022 we could jointly sit down and assess whether it had worked or not."

Staging the Commonwealth Games will cost £750 million ($1 billion/€850 million) but doubts over Birmingham's ability to pay for it has been raised after the City Council used £117 million ($153 million/€133 million) of emergency reserves in just two years to keep going.

A Government-led improvement panel is currently monitoring Birmingham City Council's management but Ward has insisted there are no fears the Commonwealth Games will cause it further financial problems.

"Let me be clear," he said.

"Birmingham will not be bankrupt either before or as a result of hosting the Commonwealth Games.

"We are very much looking forward to hosting the Commonwealth Games. 

"We have our financial challenges, but so do other cities up and down the length and breadth of the country.

"I think one of the differences we have is because we have a Government improvement panel sitting over us, a lot of those difficulties are more public than they are for other cities. 

"But we are not going to run out of money, or go bankrupt.

"The deal with the Government that we have is that the they are going to pay 75 per cent of the cost of the Games, we have to raise the other 25 per cent locally.

"What I’m about to try and demonstrate is how we are working together very, very closely across this region in order to deliver one of the most exciting things that we’ve ever had the opportunity to host here in the West Midlands."