Tax on stay in a foreign hotel? Nitras has spoken

Additional fee for tourists who book a stay in a foreign hotel through travel agencies? Minister of Sport Sławomir Nitras denies this.

– There are no such ideas in the ministry. Indeed, at one of the meetings with the tourism industry, such a demand was made by representatives of Polish hoteliers, pointing out that it was done at their expense, but as I understand it, the greatest value is that Poles have a choice whether they want to relax in country or abroad. Of course, I wholeheartedly encourage everyone to rest in Poland, but I only encourage them – he added.

Where does the rumor about the fee for staying in a foreign hotel come from?

Before the weekend, there were reports that the government was considering introducing additional fees for hotel stays in Poland. As a result of the additional fee, domestic accommodation would become less competitive compared to foreign ones, so to balance it, the idea was to appear that travel agencies would charge an additional fee for booking accommodation abroad. A bizarre proposal, because Poland would become the only country in the world that charges a fee for customers’ stay in facilities abroad. Sławomir Nitras assures that nothing like this will happen.

So where did this rumor come from? There was something going on, but if the minister is to be believed, it was only one of many proposals made at the meeting with the tourism industry. Its representatives report that Poland should promote itself more actively abroad, but there is no money for such activities. The source of financing for the campaign could be a fee imposed on tourists.

However, the Ministry is working on other regulations that could improve the quality of tourist services in our country. At the beginning of October, Nitras met with representatives of the tourism industry and local government officials on the occasion of World Tourism Day. During the meeting, the directions of development of this branch of the economy, which is already responsible for 4 percent of GDP, were discussed.

On this occasion, the Ministry of Sport and Tourism announced planned changes.

Polish tourism is growing. The minister announces changes

The Minister of Sport and Tourism announced the development of a strategy for the development of this sector in Poland. He explained that individual regions or cities have a lot of data about the guests visiting them (e.g. where they come from), but there is no central database with these analyzes and data. Changes in short-term rentals are to be an important element of the plan for Polish tourism.

The minister emphasized that tourism is important, but it is necessary to protect the inhabitants of individual towns from its consequences and introduce restrictions on short-term rental of residential premises.

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