2024-03-24 01:50:52
Ateliers, which are located in residential buildings, will now be able to be legally rented out to overnight tourists, and a number of administrative and financial reliefs will be introduced in the registration and categorization of hotels and establishments. This is foreseen by changes to the Law on Tourism, which have been released for public discussion by the Ministry of Tourism. According to the law, it will last 30 days and the comments made by industry organizations and citizens on the project will be submitted to the Council of Ministers together with the project and the reasons for it.
Studios in residential buildings are still very often rented out for short-term tourist accommodation through platforms such as AirBNB, booking.com and the like, but the change allows them to now be registered as accommodation and so
this activity is highlighted,
it is written in the reasons for the changes. Their registration is done in the local municipality, and the definitions are expanded, supplemented and specified, so that they can be interpreted unambiguously by the mayors and the owners of the studios.
Until 3 years ago, studios in Bulgaria still did not have the status of residences, and this allowed the payment of a lower tax for them. However, in 2020, with an amendment to the Territorial Planning Act, such properties located in a residential building acquired the status of residences and can now be declared as primary for living.
The majority of the texts in the project refer to the categorization of tourist sites – hotels and restaurants. One of the novelties is that upon changing the legal entity to which the previous category document was issued, it will no longer be required
object to go through categorization again,
which is the longer and more expensive procedure. Only the new owner will be required to file a change of circumstance application.
In addition, now establishments that are not subject to categorization are those with up to 10 seats. With the project, the seats become 12.
When someone is denied categorization or registration, they will be able to re-apply after 3 months instead of waiting for the current 6-month deadline.
The project also changes the definitions of a number of tourist sites, which the industry has been insisting on for a long time. For example, “tourist village”, “family hotel”, “apartment tourist complex”, etc. For example, for an apartment tourist complex, the previous requirement to have a dining complex in it is no longer required.
The powers of the Minister of Tourism in the development, implementation and control of projects and programs for the financing of tourism activities have been increased.
According to the project, in the future, it is forbidden to use any other type of object in the name of a tourist object. In the industry, the absence of this prohibition is often used by adding spa or wellness to the name of a hotel, regardless of whether it has a certified such center.