Tourism agency: Government sector support to leave HUF 30 billion with tourism companies
The government's measures to support tourism will leave some 30 billion forints (EUR 73.5m) of taxes with the sector's SMEs in the next 6 months, the head of the Hungarian Tourism Agency (MTU) told a press conference on Tuesday.
Measures include suspending the tourism development tax, at 4 percent of revenues, between October 1, 2022, and March 31, 2023, and cutting red tape in the industry, Peter Horvath said.
Also, with more flexible rules governing holidays and overtime, jobs will be easier to maintain, he said.
Meanwhile, the terms for the use of company benefits-in-kind cards (SZEP) have been changed so that employees can take winter breaks with a view to boosting domestic winter tourism.
The number of guest nights has jumped by one-third to 33 million in between January and October, compared with the same period last year, Horvath said. That number is expected to reach 37 million by the end of the year, just below 42 million registered in 2019, he said.
