The lack of tourists was discovered after Turkey was found in the UAE. Rather, in one particular emirate – we are talking about Abu Dhabi, where tourist taxes were urgently reduced. Thus, the capital emirate of the UAE, disappointed by the small number of tourists, decided to reduce the accommodation tax from September 1, as well as other taxes related to the accommodation of tourists.
Recall that the emirate has been taxing tourists since 2016. Hotels charged an accommodation tax of AED 15 (approximately EUR 3.75) per person per night.
The local press cites a statement from the emirate's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which stated that, on behalf of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, the tourist tax will be reduced from 6% to 4%.
The reason is unpleasant statistics. Of the 18 million tourists who were formally counted in Abu Dhabi upon arrival at the airport, most were transit passengers. The emirate itself received incomparably less – only 4.1 million tourists. “The decision to reduce the tax is aimed at increasing the number of overnight stays,” the experts added.
In the meantime, we recall that Arab tourists began to annoy Turkey – for the same reason as the Russians. “While we thought that now we would earn money from them, they began to make money themselves,” – this is how outraged Turkish hoteliers commented on the situation with foreigners renting their houses in Turkey to other tourists in another resort. In Turkey, they are trying to introduce the idea to society that by doing so, such owners of real estate are taking away bread from local hotels. We are talking about the resort of Bursa, popular with tourists from Arab countries. “It has become a common practice: those who come to Turkey as tourists and buy a house there, then turn it into a commercial activity and become competitors to hotels. The practice of renting houses bought by foreigners is now practiced in Bursa, which is one of the most popular destinations for tourists from Arab countries,” Turkish experts say, adding that this situation is in all popular resorts, only in Antalya Russians rent houses and the British. Read more here.
For those who care about a healthy lifestyle, we recommend reading: “Scientists have named a vitamin that protects against cancer.”