Attacks on European Tourism
Central government cutbacks have placed an onus on the need for local authorities to find new revenue streams. A consequence has been a spate of accommodation taxes, with many introduced at short notice in complete disregard to business planning cycles. These are damaging to the tourism industry and ETOA will continue campaign against their introduction.
A case in point
This first table shows the impact of the new Italian taxes on a typical 7-night itinerary for 2-star to 5-star hotels:-
| ITINERARY (no. of nights) | TASSA DI SOGGIORNO x NO. of NIGHTS |
| 2-star | 3-star | 4-star | 5-star |
| ROME (3 nights) | € 6.00 | € 6.00 | € 9.00 | € 9.00 |
| FLORENCE (2 nights) | € 4.00 | € 6.00 | € 8.00 | €10.00 |
| VENICE (2 nights) | € 4.00 | € 6.00 | € 8.00 | €10.00 |
| TOTAL TASSA DI SOGGIORNO (per person) | €14.00 | €18.00 | €25.00 | €29.00 |
This next table adds in Italian hotel VAT and the coach parking fees associated with the itinerary. The example
uses 3-star hotels costing an average €80 per person per night plus coach parking fee costs of €1250:
| HOTEL TAXES + PARKING | GROUP SIZE / PASSENGER RANGE |
| 15-19 | 20-24 | 25-29 | 30-34 | 35-39 | 40-48 |
| TASSA DI SOGGIORNO (3-star hotels) | €18.00 | €18.00 | €18.00 | €18.00 | €18.00 | €18.00 |
| * ITALIAN IVA (10%) on 7 nights at €80 | €56.00 | €56.00 | €56.00 | €56.00 | €56.00 | €56.00 |
| PARKING (€1250 divided by 15, 20, etc.) | €83.33 | €62.50 | €50.00 | €41.67 | €35.71 | €31.25 |
| TOTAL PER PERSON | €158 | €137 | €124 | €116 | €110 | €106 |
| * The reduced 10% rate of IVA, that applies to Italian hotels, is increasing to 12% in October 2012. |
Full details on Italian taxes are also accessible from the right-hand sidebar. Select a country to view details of which taxes have been introduced or proposed.
Whilst we are focusing on localised accommodation taxes, some significant VAT increases have been introduced across Europe of late and for an overview The TMF Group have put together fairly a comprehensive website, albeit lacking on occasion in one crucial area - that of the services to which the Reduced VAT rate applies; crucial insofar as it is this rate that generally applies to hotel accommodation.