COST CUTS AIM AT BOOSTING LATVIAN TOURISM.Faced with increasingly stiff competition from other tourist destinations A tourist destination is a city, town or other area the economy of which is dependent to a significant extent on the revenues accruing from tourism. It may contain one or more tourist attractions or visitor attractions and possibly some "tourist traps". in Eastern Europe Eastern Europe The countries of eastern Europe, especially those that were allied with the USSR in the Warsaw Pact, which was established in 1955 and dissolved in 1991. , the government of Latvia gave hotels a break by reducing the tax burden on their accommodations. The reprieve reprieve (rĭprēv`): in law, see pardon. came under broad new legislation that allows for value-added tax value-added tax (VAT), levy imposed on business at all levels of the manufacture and production of a good or service and based on the increase in price, or value, provided by each level. (VAT) refunds on a variety of imported goods purchased by foreigners Foreigners alienage the condition of being an alien. androlepsy Law. the seizure of foreign subjects to enforce a claim for justice or other right against their nation. gypsyologist, gipsyologist Rare. and then taken out of the country. The 18 percent tax refund Tax refund Money back from the government when too much tax has been paid or withheld from a salary. on hotels and related services will apply to foreign visitors only. Latvian officials said that starting next January the first foreigners would be eligible for the break. Tamara Turko, comptroller for the Radisson SAS (1) (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, www.sas.com) A software company that specializes in data warehousing and decision support software based on the SAS System. Founded in 1976, SAS is one of the world's largest privately held software companies. See SAS System. Daugava Hotel in Riga, told The Baltic Times that: "VAT refunds for hotel services are a very positive step toward putting Latvia and its historical capital Riga in a more cost-competitive position relative to other popular tourist destinations. "VAT refunds will also help hotels in Riga to overcome difficulties in achieving maximum occupancy after the Riga 800 celebrations and when demand will not be so high as this summer," she noted. Off season-tourism is needed in order to offset the "feast or famine" seasonal nature of the industry. In many popular tourist destinations of Eastern Europe, the VAT on hotel rooms is considerably lower, and therefore, guests pay less for hotel services. In Nor-way, hotel services (both room and banqueting revenues) are tax exempt; in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg, VAT on hotels is 6 percent, and in Sweden, 12 percent. The Latvian government believes that the tax will increase consumption of products made there, as well as imported items. The main target market for the Latvian tourism sector is well-heeled Western European travelers with an interest in history and culture. Given the depressed state of the nation's industrial base, expansion in the tourism sector represents an attractive option for the creation of much-needed jobs, in addition to a means of drawing foreign currency needed for infrastructure development. |
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