Large Romanian seaside resort plans parking tax

Parking in the resort of Mamaia, one of the most popular on the Romanian seaside, will be paid starting next year, Decebal Făgădău, the mayor of Constanţa, said, quoted by News.ro. Mamaia is a district of Constanța, located immediately north-east of the city center. “I’m letting you know starting now that parking will be paid next year. Just as we go, for instance, to Braşov, Sibiu, Timişoara, and everybody pays a fee per hour. We will do the same thing. Of course, for employees, we will have a policy of lower prices because it is a necessity transport. We will also have a policy of harmonizing the public transport network depending on the employees you have,” the mayor told a meeting with hotel owners in the area. The owners of hotels in the area proposed that tourists be exempted from paying the tax. Mohammad Murad, the president of the Romanian Tourism Owners Federation (FPTR) and one of the most active investors on the local seaside, proposed that only Constanţa residents pay the parking tax as tourists already pay for accommodation and needn’t pay another tax. “I would be happy if we had special parking lots for Constanţa residents so that tourists have priority. Do you agree that those coming from Botoşani and checking in at a hotel have priority over Constanţa residents? Then it would be better that the tax would be for Constanţa residents. Those who come pay RON 300 (EUR 67) for the hotel, it’s not normal that they pay another tax. It’s not normal to tax the tourist in any way and for everything they do,” Murad said, quoted by News.ro. Murad also argued that it is not normal for a hotel to not be able to manage the beach surface at its front. Murad’s Phoenicia Group has been very active in investing in the Romanian seaside tourism. The group owns the Perla and Majestic hotels in Mamaia and the Majestic hotels in Olimp and Jupiter, as well as the Phoenicia Luxury Hotel and Phoenicia Holiday Resort apart hotel in Navodari, north of Mamaia. Next year the group will open the Belvedere, Amfiteatru and Panoramic hotel complexes in Neptun -Olimp, which are currently in a refurbishing process. He will also open Boutique Hotel in Navodari, which has been built from scratch. Bucharest hotel could be affiliated to Trump network editor@romania-insider.com