ATOR experts informed tourists about the problematic situation with hotels in Turkey, and in particular about the fact that hotels are starting to demand money from Russian tourists. We are talking about a new tax on accommodation introduced from January 1, 2023 and previously paid orders. The problem is that officially the tax must be paid by the hotel, which will certainly include these costs in the cost of living. Moreover, according to the law, this tax is levied precisely on hotels, and not at all on tourists, tour operators or travel agents. However, previous bookings did not take into account this price change, and as a result, information pops up that hotels are already ready to directly charge additional amounts from tourists to compensate for the payment of tax, and we are talking primarily about expensive hotels, such as Rixos, beloved by our tourists.
Experts remind that only hoteliers pay the 2% accommodation tax introduced from January 1 in Turkey. Those. the object of taxation in this case is not tourists, but the hotels themselves. The problem is that the answer to the question has not been officially given – how should the new tax be applied in case of an early booking that has already taken place? The price of such a tour, of course, does not take into account the new tax. As a result, hoteliers solve this problem at their own discretion – including a solution at the expense of the tourist.”
According to representatives of Turkish DMC-operators, hoteliers have three possible options in case of early booking. To charge a 2% tax from tourists already upon check-in (similar to the resort tax in Russia), to demand an additional payment for the tour in the amount of the tax through a tour operator or travel agent, or to “forgive” these 2% to the guest and not collect tax from them in principle”, – experts explained. Most likely, each hotel chain will pursue its own policy and evaluate the reactions of tourists and partners. “Perhaps, then there will be some general recommendations on how to deal with the tax in case of early booking. Now there is a little chaos, but after the first week of January, as we hope, certainty will come,” the sources add.
Information that the hotels plan to convince the tourist to pay extra was also confirmed by tour operators. “It is assumed that a tax of 2% will be included in the cost of the tour, so tourists should not have any difficulties. However, for example, hotels of the RixosHotels chain reserve the right to demand payment of accommodation tax from tourists upon check-in,” Anex Tour experts specified. At the same time, representatives of the tourist market emphasize: for bookings in mid-December, 2% tax is already taken into account in arrivals for 2023. That is, if a tourist bought a tour to Turkey for the New Year or summer 2023 in the second half of December 2022, then the tax is already included in its price, although market participants do not have comprehensive information.
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