New tourist tax in Greece… another example of unfair tax

[Chocbuttonsandredwine]

€1.50 per room for 1 and 2 star hotels
€10 per room for 5 star…

WTF.

tourist tax = fine, absolutely on board with, help to fund climate change etc etc…

but why not make it flat across the board… ye again the ones that aren’t rich, work hard, can afford nice things if they save are the ones that are penalised the most

surely climate change is everyone’s equal responsibility?

If you don't want to pay the higher tax rate, just stay in the cheaper hotels.

I am pretty sure this is not new and not unique to Greece. I actually think that tourist taxes such as this are really fair. It you are spending some time in a local area, surely a contribution to the every day costs that maintain the community and fund resources is right?

I think this is particularly relevant in areas of high tourism where there are often many second homes that are rented out and therefore impacting on the day-to-day economy. Those using higher end hotels and rentals often contribute little locally, such as arriving with supplies if in a rental and the higher end hotels are often part of a chain rather than locally owned. If all-inclusive, there is little benefit of tourism to the local community.

Sorry... are you... arguing with paying a tax that literally states right there in your OP... is being put in place as a resilience fund for natural disasters

No, she thinks she’s being victimised because she stays in 5 star hotels and therefore has to pay more than the workshy in their cheap hotels 😃

Tourist taxes make a huge difference to tourist areas.
For example our Town only has a population of around 3000 people. So a small ish town.
However, due to its location it reaches around 25,000 overnight guests in peak summer. That’s a huge number for a small town to support. The tourist taxes go towards things like repairing the roads more often than would be normally needed for a town of this size, extra maintenance in general of things like public toilets, green areas, lake access, events etc.

The taxes have to be taken separately btw as it’s a tax. The hotel/ apartment/ b and b are basically just middle men on this. They take the tax from tourist and at the end of each month had to hand it all to the local tourist board. So they don’t want to be taxed on the tax if they collected it within hotel cost and not separate as they won’t keep a penny of it.

Of course you should pay more for 5 star than 1 or 2 star, it's proportionate to the cost of the room. What's working hard got to do with it.

What peecentage of your total holiday cost will the €10 per night tax represent?

It looks like a good progressive tax to me. Those who are less well off, who save and scrape together enough for a holiday in a budget hotel, pay less, if you can afford a 5 star hotel then you can afford to pay more.

As so many have said they've done this for years, though admittedly it's gone up

The only thing I wonder - this being Greece - is how much of the tax makes it's way to the state

Yep, I'm not getting this. I'm not rich, I work hard, if I saved for a holiday in a budget hotel I would not be penalised. It's the well off people staying a 5 star hotel who would pay more, but relative to the cost of their stay.

I really doubt that.
Increase from 28 to 70 might sound a lot but holidays in general have increased in cost massively so that extra 42 euro would be 1-2% of the cost of your 5star holiday

its been in place for ages. minimum wage here is under 800 euro/ month yet we have some of the highest electricity, gas and supermarket prices in europe. the country is struggling just like everyone everywhere and tourism accounts for the massive majority of so many people’s income. please try not to begrudge a few extra euros on your holiday.

Oh yes, those poor rich people. My heart bleeds

This has been in place in Greece for a good few years now. Doesn't really add that much to the cost of a holiday. We also paid something similar in Prague last December and Rome in 2019.

ln defence of tourist tax, it’s also worth remembering a lot of people are on packages and increasingly using non-Greek owned all inclusive outfits, that do very little for the local economy.

Surely if you’re going to 5 star in the summer, €70 for a week isn’t really breaking the bank?

There are TT charges everywhere, as PP have said

I'm not seeing a problem with this

Oh dear.

2-star beckons

prob not a tourist tax but wen i was going to vegas tey added on anoter 34 per nite i wouldnt mind paying a tenner

Go somewhere else then.

Greece's economy has been on its knees so why can't they claw back some recompense from rich tourists?

Oh the entitled British tourist!

If it was truely about Climate Resilience they it wouldn't be based in star rating,it would be based on the hotel's energy efficiency rating, recycling level and other ESG measures which would be a lot more meaningful and effective.

Absolutely this. It’s sad to see how quiet the local tavernas are now that they’re competing with big chain all-inclusive hotels. I will never do AI in Europe again.

All counties do this...not new...

Absolutely fair enough

Having a flat rate would be unfair on poorer people in cheaper hotels. Rich people can choose to stay in a cheaper hotel if they want. Of course it's not unfair

Neither am I. I've been paying it in Greece for several years.

However as climate change is everyone's responsibility I think it should be levied on individuals (adults) not on rooms. It's yet another example where couples are advantaged over single travellers.