The resort fees currently being collected are encouraging to the administration
From January 1, 2025, new federal legislation will come into force: the resort fee will be replaced by a tourist tax, the funds of which will also flow to municipal budgets.The Stavropol Territory can be cited as an example of the success of the innovation.Tourists vacationing in the resorts of the region paid about 350 million rubles of the resort fee in the first half of the year. The funds raised will be used to improve the tourism infrastructure of the region. Among the projects planned for implementation this year are the continuation of the improvement of the Ostrovsky Baths square in Zheleznovodsk, the repair of urban fountains and the creation of new children’s play areas in Pyatigorsk, the repair of fountain complexes and pedestrian zones in Yessentuki, the improvement of the square and pedestrian spaces in Kislovodsk, the renovation of the square of the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Mineralnye Vody. Kislovodsk is one of the cities where a resort fee is charged when staying in collective accommodation facilities. There are 40 sanatoriums, 14 boarding houses, and 67 hotels in the city. There are also 64 mineral water wells located here. Kislovodsk is a part of the ecological and resort region of the Caucasian Mineral Waters and is a resort city of federal significance. Kislovodsk collected 120.4 million rubles of the resort fee in six months.In six more regions of the Russian Federation, the idea of introducing a resort tax is still being discussed, the Telegram channel Mash reports.
Representatives of the administrations of the cities popular with tourists – historical Suzdal and the resort Gelendzhik – support the introduction of a tourist tax in Russia. From January 01, 100 rubles per day will have to be paid extra in the city of Suzdal, Vladimir region. Governor Avdeev has long desired this, by the way.About 900 thousand people visit Suzdal annually. Of these, about 500 thousand guests are tourists, the rest are tourists who come on average for two days. “Based on the 100-ruble fee and the average annual tourist flow, the income of Suzdal will reach 80 million rubles per year. For a small town, this is a significant and very necessary amount for further transformations,” Governor Avdeev stressed. In his opinion, for the guests of Suzdal, the cost of 100 rubles will be insignificant.A daily fee of 50 rubles is going to be established in Sortavala (Karelia) and Belokurikha (Altai Territory).Vologda follows the new provisions of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation on tourist tax and will charge no more than 1% of the cost of accommodation, but with an increase to 5% by 2029.In Astrakhan, Pskov, all over Altai, Karachay-Cherkessia, Ingushetia and Dagestan, they are still thinking whether it is necessary… In Belokurikha, and now tourists have to pay 50 rubles per day of stay, so nothing changes here.The tourist flow to the resorts of the Stavropol Territory has increased by almost 4% since the beginning of 2024 compared to the same period last year, which affected the collection of the resort fee, the press service of the regional government reported. It is noted that tourists in Stavropol during this period paid about 350 million rubles of the resort fee.”Now we are working with the federal center to ensure that the funds received are also fully directed to improving the resort infrastructure of cities,” Tolbatov, Minister of Tourism and Health Resorts of the Stavropol Territory, is quoted in a press release. Kislovodsk (located in the resort region of the Caucasian Mineral Waters) has become the leader among the resort towns of Stavropol in paying the resort fee, the press service of the city administration reports.”In the first 6 months of 2024, the amount of the resort fee amounted to 120.4 million rubles, which exceeded all planned indicators by 17.1 million rubles. Due to this, Kislovodsk becomes the leader among the resort towns of Stavropol in paying the resort fee. Comparing the data of the same period in 2023, we can note an increase in the payment of the resort fee by 3%,” the message says.It is noted that for 6 months of 2023, the amount of the resort fee amounted to 116.9 million. “Up to a penny, the received resort fee goes only for landscaping, and not for other purposes. This indicates that Kislovodsk is becoming an increasingly attractive place for recreation and tourism. And the resort fee helps us to make it even more comfortable to live, work and relax. Therefore, we continue to work and will direct the entire amount of the received resort fee to new projects for the improvement of our Kislovodsk,” said the head of the resort city, Yevgeny Moiseev.It is unlikely that the resort fee will be abolished in St. Petersburg, in the Sirius Federal Territory located in Sochi, as well as in a number of cities in the Krasnodar Territory and Stavropol Territory. Apparently, the payment mechanism will change and these mandatory payments will be called differently. The tax and the fee are the same for the traveler.
