The mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, has announced that the city will temporarily suspend the tax rate on the room occupancy of hotel for a period of three months from June 1, 2021, in an effort to contribute to the recovery of the tourist industry that has been devastated by the pandemic of coronavirus as in the rest of cities or countries where this activity has an important weight. The hotel occupancy tax rate is currently 5.8%.
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“The temporary occupation tax exemption it is a much needed lifesaver that is very well received by the troubled hospitality industry“said Vijay Dandapani, president and CEO of the New York City Hotel Association.
According to data from the city, the hotel and leisure sector lost about 257,000 jobs between March and December 2020. “Eliminate the tax on room occupancy could incentivize hotels to lower their rates, thus increasing demand and helping to stimulate economic recovery ”, said the mayor, who trusts that the steep drop in COVID-19 rates together with measures to boost the sector, allow “tourists to return en masse to New York City”, as collected by information from NY1.com.
Bill de Blasio has stated: “By eliminating the hotel room occupancy tax for this summer, we are accelerating our economic recovery, saving jobs and providing relief to one of our most affected industries.”
In fact, the City Council has made this decision despite the fact that hotel room occupancy tax revenue is down by approximately 89% compared to the last fiscal year before the pandemic.
The president of the City Council, Corey Johnson, has affirmed, for his part, that “COVID-19 has devastated the hotel industry. It is vital that we help a sector that depends fundamentally on tourism and eliminating the hotel occupancy tax for the summer season is a good step ”.
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