Will the Government Satisfy Everyone on a Tourist Fee? It Promises Its Own Bill

Poland’s debate over a tourist fee ended with the government promising to submit its own proposal, potentially putting an end to disputes over how the money should be collected and divided.

The Sejm held the first reading of a bill introduced by lawmakers from the Polish Peasant Party and Third Way. Ireneusz Raś, the deputy minister of sport and tourism who initiated the proposal, presented it and recommended that lawmakers adopt it.

The bill would allow each municipality to decide whether to introduce a tourist compensation fee. Hotels and other establishments providing hotel services would collect it from overnight guests. Hospital patients, children under 16 and people already paying a local or spa fee would be exempt.

Under the proposed formula, municipalities would keep 80% of the proceeds, while 18% would go to the Polish Tourism Organization, or POT, and 2% to the person collecting the fee. Municipalities could use their share to compensate for the costs of receiving tourists. POT would use its portion to promote regions and cities in cooperation with local and regional tourism organizations. The collector’s share would cover costs and work and encourage regular collection.

A municipality introducing the fee would also have to offer visitors something in return, such as a discount at a local museum, swimming pool or sports field. Municipal councils would set the rate according to the location, type and category of the accommodation, its facilities and the season, within minimum and maximum levels set by regulation.

Most parliamentary groups supported continuing work on the bill and did not challenge the idea itself, apart from Confederation. However, most favored giving all the money to municipalities and opposed allocating funds to POT for promotion. At the end of the debate, Finance Deputy Minister Jarosław Neneman said, “The government believes that the fee should exist. I can declare that a government bill will appear at the next sitting of the Sejm.”

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The government believes that the fee should exist. I can declare that a government bill will appear at the next sitting of the Sejm.