In the resorts on the Black Sea coast there is a fairly large amount of private property - apartments and apartment complexes, which should pay the same taxes as hotels, told journalists in “Golden Sands“ the chairman of the Union of Hoteliers Vesselin Danev. He was among the participants in the working meeting “Infrastructure and Tourism“, which was attended by the Ministers of Regional Development and Public Works Ivan Shishkov and Tourism Ilin Dimitrov. The conversation was also attended by the regional governor of Varna Mario Smrkov, members of parliament from “Progressive Bulgaria“, Eng. Venelin Shakov, executive director of “Bulgarian Water and Sewerage Holding“ EAD, representatives of industry organizations and companies from the entire Black Sea coast, experts.
Danev pointed out that these private apartments and apart-complexes should pay electricity and water at the same prices as hotels, and not as household subscribers. As a serious problem, he also pointed out that the hoteliers' taxes go to the municipalities, which in principle should maintain the infrastructure, but do not. Within the hotels, guests see well-maintained alleys and gardens, and outside them in some of the complexes - potholes in the streets, unmaintained storm sewers, lack of markings, added Danev. His position was that these types of problems have been accumulating for many years, but have been neglected and it is high time the state started to solve them.
Regarding the current summer season, Danev pointed out that the results are not so weak. According to him, the number of arriving tourists may be slightly lower than last year, but the difference is not significant so far and it is too early to draw final conclusions.
He recalled the problems with flights from Germany this year and indicated that the Ministry of Tourism has taken action to gradually overcome them in the coming seasons.
A more serious problem for hoteliers, according to Danev, is the increase in costs, including the increase in fuel prices and the increase in salaries due to inflation. At the same time, hotels cannot increase the prices of tourist packages at the same pace, he pointed out. The members of our organization cannot increase the prices of packages in such an aggressive way, Danev commented.
A coordinated approach is needed to resolve the problems in the sector, the chairman of the Hoteliers' Union also explained. He expressed satisfaction that the state and, in particular, the Ministry of Tourism have already taken various initiatives in favor of the sector. The current administration has the opportunity to implement reforms, as it has the horizon to do so, Danev added.