Surveys, Trends & Stats Hoteliers Criticize Restaurant VAT Hike by GTP editing team 1 September 2011 written by GTP editing team 1 September 2011 0 comments Share 0FacebookTwitterLinkedinWhatsappEmail 13 The increase of the VAT for restaurant services in Greek hotels from 13 to 23 percent (a 77 percent hike) would reduce the competitiveness of the country’s tourism product, the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels said recently in an announcement. The VAT hike on food catering services is expected to come into effect as of this month and is one of the terms of the medium-term fiscal plan passed in July by Greek Parliament after an agreement with the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The hike will apply to restaurants, cafeterias, canteens and hotel restaurants. According to the hotel chamber, the VAT hike would lead to a significant increase in the price of the tourism package and once again degrade Greece’s tourism potential in view of signing contracts with tour operators for 2012. The chamber said the VAT increase would raise the price of an all inclusive hotel stay from 9.3 percent to 11.8 percent, of hotels with half board from 7.8 percent to 9.8 percent and of hotels with breakfast from 7.8 percent to 9.1 percent. Following the strong reaction from restaurant owners and tourism professionals, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos admitted to the press that the VAT increase on food catering services was in fact very high but added “this may change in the near future, in the context of the new tax system.” Follow GTP Headlines on Google News to keep up to date with all the latest on tourism and travel in Greece. Share 0 FacebookTwitterLinkedinWhatsappEmail GTP editing team This is the team byline for GTP. The copyrights for these articles are owned by GTP. They may not be redistributed without the permission of the owner. previous post Domestic Tourism Expected To Drop This Year next post Minister Wants To Abolish Greece-Turkey Visa Restrictions You may also like Greek Tourism Ministry Monitors Santorini Situation as Seismic Activity Continues 5 February 2025 Global Air Passenger Demand Reaches Record High in 2024, IATA Reports 5 February 2025 Greek PM Reassures Public About Santorini’s Ongoing Seismic Activity 5 February 2025 Milos: Ministry Suspends 5-star Hotel Construction Near Sarakiniko Beach 5 February 2025 ELIME and HELMEPA Join Forces for Safer, More Sustainable Greek Ports 5 February 2025 Greek Ministries Team Up to Form National Cycling Strategy 5 February 2025 Leave a Comment Cancel Reply Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ