Greek Hotel OWners Against Possible VAT Rate Hike

The hotel sector and the whole tourism world expresses its discontent and deep concerns on the possible increase of the VAT rate on hotel services from 6.5 percent to 13 percent, the president of the Hellenic Federation of Hoteliers Yiannis Retsos said in a statement on Tuesday.

He added that the rationale and the feasibility of this measure make no sense and its impact in the next 12-24 months is estimated to be disastrous not only for hotels, the accommodation sector and the Greek tourism "but also for the national economy and for all sectors and professions affected by tourism activity."

According to Retsos, the VAT increase will abruptly burden the average package for Greece by 5 percent just when most of the bookings start and prices with tour operators have been agreed since summer.

The measure, he noted, will severely hit the competitiveness of tourism in the most critical period and will eliminate any hopes of the domestic tourism recovery.

The Federation called on the government not to proceed with "the brutal respite to the dynamic course of the most promising sector of the economy and prevent the damage which the Greek economy and society will be asked in the long run to pay for."

ANA/MPA