Greek tourism heavy takes a swing at hotels' "climate resilience fee"
Like hotels? Get ready to pony up some more to stay in them.
The President of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE), Yiannis Paraschis, during a speech in Athens on Thursday criticized the so-called climate resilience tax that customers who stay at Greek hotels must now pay.
This fee recently replaced overnight tax that hotels used to charge.
Said Mr. Paraschis, “Tourism cannot bear the financial burden of addressing natural disasters or other national challenges alone.” He went further, calling for a comprehensive review of taxes and fees in the tourist space, in addition to greater transparency.
Reports are that a new bill tabled in November is going to end up adding to your own. This sort of new and improved, if you will, climate fee will go for hotels and short-term rentals too. From April to October, when most Americans visit Greece, you can expect the fees to be as follows:
– 1-2 star hotels: 2 euros per night
– 3-star hotels: 5 euros per night
– 4-star hotels: 10 euros per night
– 5-star hotels: 15 euros per night
– Furnished rooms/apartments: 2 euros per night
– Short-term rental properties: 8 euros per night
– Detached homes (over 80 sq m) for short-term rental: 15 euros per night
– Furnished tourist villas: 15 euros per night
These fees drop significantly from November to March.
Mr. Paraschis diplomatic dis of the fee was considered long overdue by many in the hospitality industry. Whoever dreamt up the name “climate resilience” fee is possibly related to the good people in New York City who slap on a mandatory daily “resort fee” or “facility fee” to your hotel bill to the tune of an extra $34.43 per night. In addition to a bunch of other taxes and fees that would have our forebears dumping chests of tea into Boston Harbor at pace.
How about a little more transparency with that?
In any case, whether in Manhattan or Athens taxes and fees or whatever you want to call them once raised seldom go down, c’est la vie. But better to know about what’s going on in advance.
First we warned you about how European banks will gouge you if you’re not paying attention (maybe even if you are! But now, at least, you can be really happy that your wallet will be getting thinner as you stay your way toward helping to (cough, cough, it’s cold season, right?) save the planet. 🌎🙄