The hoteliers attribute “class” characteristics to the government policy of “overtaxing” tourism as they characterize the recent measures announced at the TIF. There are many who estimate that the “horizontal” increase measure of the end of climate change mainly affects small hotels and unpopular tourist destinations while essentially leaving large luxury hotels unaffected.
It is obvious that we are talking about the death of the small hotelier, said an industry factor, adding that small hotels make up 80% of the units. We are not opposed to a compensatory fee, but this should be proportional, he adds. Another effect is the charge from the fee in a large luxury hotel in a popular destination and another in an average city hotel.
The hoteliers argue that a fee of 15 euros in a five-star hotel in a Greek city, e.g. in Xanthi, it means a surcharge for the guest on the room price of up to 20%, while in a resort of 500 or 1000 euros per night the surcharge will be negligible. This is an argument that seems reasonable and that is why they ask for the fee to be proportional to the price of the room.
At the same time, while waiting for the specialization of the measures by its financial staff, which is scheduled for Monday, September 16, and preparing their counterattack in the direction of proving that the government deals with tourism piecemeal and like a “cow for milking”, they plan to soon present a study which proves that the hotel industry is the most overtaxed in the country. Up to 100%, the tax burden of the sector is higher than any other, experts of the study note.
The government is dealing with “taxation” of tourism
For a large portion of hoteliers, another proof that the government is dealing with tourism in a “fiscal” way is the fact that it abolished the reciprocity of the tourist tax, while the overnight tax that was converted into a climate change fee and is supposedly reciprocating is not attributed to local communities. They point out that the Aegean Region has asked for 75% of the revenues from the hotel tax in the region to be returned for projects in the Region, but it has not yet “seen the light of day”, with the question of how much money is collected this year and how it is used to remains unanswered.
“Even the resilience fee, which as a result should have a form of reciprocity, we are trying to see where the money paid last year was directed and in terms of what it supports the tourist activity” noted the President of the Panhellenic Federation of Hoteliers (POX) Yiannis Hatzis speaking at the OT FORUM in Thessaloniki.
The horizontal increase of the climate change fee comes at a complex and challenging time for Greek tourism.
2025, for many and various reasons, will not be an easy year and will in no way resemble 2022, 2023 and the first half of 2024, the former president of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) Yannis Retsos recently wrote in “X” , who in his “cool” post also points out that “tourism is now too important to be ignored and left to its own devices. It is very necessary for the economic future of the country and the development of local societies…” and he emphasizes that “government and local self-government must be behind a unified strategy, which will define the objectives and develop and implement policies. And the private sector, responsibly and with constant self-criticism, will create, develop the product and marginalize all those who attempt to sabotage it…”
“Increased revenues from tourism and other service exports overshadowed the decline in product exports in the first half of 2024, contributing to the growth trajectory of the Greek economy.”
I’m not saying it. It results from the analysis of the data of the Central Bank for the 1st…— Yiannis A. Retsos (@YARetsos) August 24, 2024
The president of POX, Yannis Hatzis, told OT FORUM that although it is still early, the best benchmark to see how the year will go compared to previous years is in November, the WTM, the London exhibition, however “the tour operators tell us that we are around -10% to -15% compared to last year”.
Other factors in the industry highlight that the increasing tourist flow recorded internationally after the pandemic has reached its limits, all indicate that from 2025 the price will be a key factor in the choice of a destination. Consequently, Greece should follow a similar policy to maintain its competitiveness.
In any case, everyone agrees that 2025 will be a different year as the climate crisis, the general economic distress in Western Europe, the negative messages sent by the international article on hypertourism, the intensity of competition from other regions of the Mediterranean, are expected to play their role.
The “conflict” with Airbnb
In all of the above, the Greek hotel has to face intense competition from short-term rental accommodation. The hoteliers were completely disappointed by the “non-measures” announced by the government on short-term rentals.
“I have not heard of any measure that limits short-term leases, apart from the fact that some incentives will be given for some people who want to move to long-term leases and for some restrictions in areas of Athens,” Yannis Hatzis told OT FORUM.
“We also need to understand what exactly short-term leasing is. I really can’t understand, we talk about limiting days and they tell us it’s business activity, we talk about equal taxation and they tell us it’s a sharing economy. We have to finally define what short-term rental is,” he stressed.
Source: OT
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