Paris hotel owners fume over 2024 Olympics tourist tax increase, calling it ‘another blow’ for the hospitality sector
- Plans to triple the tax paid by hotel guests for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris have riled hoteliers worried about their competitiveness and France’s image
- The government says the hike, which it aims to enact without a vote, will fund public transport – for which recent price increases are adding to the anger
Paris hoteliers were up in arms on Tuesday over a government plan to triple the tax paid by visitors on nights at hotels in 2024 when the capital hosts the Olympic Games.
The tourist tax in Paris now varies from €0.25 (US$0.27) a night for the most basic accommodation to €5 a night for luxurious establishments. The government is to triple that fee as part of its 2024 budget, which it plans to ram through parliament without a vote before Christmas.
“It’s another blow for the competitiveness of our sector as well as France’s image at a time when all attention is on the Paris 2024 Olympics,” the UMIH hotel and restaurant union and GNC group of hotel chains said in a statement.
The government has said the 200 per cent increase in the tourist tax will help fund public transport.
The syndicates claimed it would “amount to €423 million in tax collected a year – far more than the €200 million” the government and the regional transport authority have said they need.
Catherine Querard, the president of GHR, another union representing the hospitality and catering sector, added: “The authorities fear a hike in hotel prices, but they’re sending the tax rate through the roof. Then they’ll come and blame us.”
Hotels have already increased their rates for a night during the Olympics, which will run from July 26 to August 11.
The controversy comes after regional authorities announced a sharp rise in public transport tickets for the Games, sparking anger.
The regional transport authority is to nearly double metro fares for single tickets and 10-ticket passes during the Olympics.