Glasgow's council leaders have been urged to waive town and city centre parking charges ahead of Christmas.
In a joint letter to local government umbrella organisation Cosla say the move will help companies struggling with declining footfall caused by the pandemic.
Written by Scottish Tourism Alliance chief executive Marc Crothall, it is signed by eight further groups including the Scottish Retail Consortium, the Federation of Small Businesses Scotland and the Chambers of Commerce.
"As a regressive charge, taking no account of ability to pay, parking charges discourage all from travelling safely to local shops and restaurants at a time when consumers are painfully mindful of income, expenditure and future financial uncertainty.
"We acknowledge the financial challenges faced by all of Scotland's local authorities and the importance of parking fees as revenue stream and would therefore ask that the Scottish Government consider diverting a portion of the £1 billion allocated to Scotland by the Treasury to each of our local authorities to enable a waive on parking charges for at least until the end of this calendar year to allow businesses the best possible chance to trade in the run-up to Christmas."
A Cosla spokesman said: "We recognise the impact of the pandemic and current travel restrictions on the Scottish tourism and retail industry, with businesses in our towns and city centres particularly affected.
"Covid-19 has also put substantial pressures on local government budgets and led to significant income losses across key council services, including parking charges.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "Parking charges are a matter for local authorities, but we have already provided local authorities with an additional £382.2 million on top of funding flexibilities which could be worth up to £600 million over the next two years.
"Working with Cosla and local authorities, we are very close to finalising a lost income scheme, including support for ALEOs, worth an estimated £90 million."
