Hotel operators in Romania, unhappy with “unfair competition” on Booking.com platform

Hotel operators in Romania are unhappy that Booking.com, one of the biggest travel e-commerce platforms in the world, also promotes “unfair competition”, represented by accommodation units that operate illegally, without being registered and paying taxes to the state. The local hotel operators raised this problem during a meeting with Booking.com representatives in Bucharest, local Profit.ro reported. “Anyone who has a room and wants to rent it can list it on Booking.com in 24 hours. Booking doesn’t check if the room owners pay taxes to the state or not,” said Tudor Maxim, founder of the Pura Vida hostel network. He said this is unfair competition because taxes can reach up to 50% of the price of a room, which means that those who don’t pay taxes can list lower prices and still make more money than licensed operators. About half of the clients of these illegal accommodation structures come through Booking.com and Airbnb, he added. According to local hotel operators, Booking.com brings about 25-30% of the sales of hotels in Bucharest and smaller cities and over 40% of the revenues of hotels in local resorts. The platform’s representatives organized for the first time a meeting with local hotel operators to present them its development plans and new services to be introduced. Some 60 local hotel owners and managers participated in the event. Hotels and restaurants in Romania will pay 5% VAT rate editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Pixabay.com)