Hotels in Berlin are waiting for a new tax

Hotels in Berlin, or rather guests, who enjoy hotel services, from 2013 will face unpleasant novelty. The authorities in Berlin decided to introduce a new hotel tax amid the growing interest in the German capital. As noted by Reuters, the new tax will raise prices on hotels in Berlin at least by 5%.

Berlin will not be the first city in Europe, which will introduce such a tax. Not so long ago Rome authorities introduced a similar tax in the local hotels. The following hotel tax appeared in Florence. And in Germany one of the most popular tourist cities of the country - Cologne - decided to set additional charges for the tourists.

Today Berlin is the third city after London and Paris in Europe in terms of tourist traffic. In 2010 hotels in Berlin exceeded the figure of 20 million overnight stays.

According to the Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit, such a tax would help the city authorities to direct additional funds to the museums maintenance and restoration of the monuments.

In turn, representatives of the German Hotel Association DEHOGA were not enthusiastic about new initiatives of the Berlin officials. According to the association representatives, it is unfair to note hotels among other participants of the tourism market in Berlin. If the tax is aimed at obtaining additional funds from the growth of tourism, in this case it must paid by all - taxi drivers, museums and apartments.

Anyway, Berlin authorities hope that the new tax will annually bring additional 20 million Euros, which can be devoted to developing of the city tourism infrastructure.