Following the adoption by the National Assembly of an amendment to establish an additional regional tax of 2€ per night and person in Ile-de-France, Roland Heguy, the Confederal President of the Union of Trades and Industries in the Hotel Business (UMIH) is furious.
He says he is "outraged and angry against the government and the public authorities." According to him, "to introduce two new taxes in less than 24 hours, without any consistency and consultation with the professionals of the industry, for a domain, strongly contributor to the balance of trades, creator of wealth and a source of employment, it is a first!" He added: "but it is totally irresponsible."
Hoteliers feel "cheated" and are making ironic comments: "Two Ministers focus on tourism, it is two times more taxes." For Roland Heguy, "this additional tax on hotels in Ile-de-France is a mistake. It is totally contradictory with the message of the Conference on Tourism.
The new tax comes at a time when the tax increases of recent years has been particularly sensitive to our business (average annual rate of increase of local taxation between 2 and 15%). Between 2008 and 2011, the tax has increased by 26.3% at the national level." Also, according to him, this tax "penalizes more than half of the tourists in Ile-de-France that are French" and delivers a "totally negative message to international visitors who arbitrate in the choice of their destination." He concludes: "It is neither the hoteliers nor the French, nor the tourists to come address the shortcomings of the State and its communities. Taxation is not the only answer. Nowhere else in the world, transportation is funded by some type of tax on tourism. For the Industries in the Hotel Business (UMIH), this vote is a breaking point in the dialogue between the professionals and the public authorities. With the hoteliers and all the professionals of the sector, we will draw the consequences and will consider actions to show our anger.