Taras Fomchenkov
for EcoToutism Expert 
From 2024, the regions of Russia have independently made a decision on the introduction of a resort tax (tourist tax) on the tourists visiting their region.
EcoTourism EXPERT found out what the collected money should be used for and how seriously the introduction of the resort tax can affect the travel budget of a family.
It is worth mentioning that the experiment on the introduction of the resort tax has been in effect since 2018. At first, the Crimea, the Altai, Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories participated in it, and later on, St. Petersburg, the Northern capital, joined the experiment in 2022, as well as the Sirius federal territory located on the Black Sea coast near Sochi where the 2014 Winter Olympics were held.
The income that the budgets of resort cities receive from the introduction of the resort tax is quite large. For example, about 296.4 mn rubles were collected in the first half of 2023, which is 71.5 percent of the annual guidelines. And according to the most recent data for 11 months of 2022, 52.5 mn rubles were collected in the resort city of Belokurikha, the Altai Territory, while in total, the city’s budget has received over 165 mn rubles since May 2018.
From the point of view of income, the introduction of the resort tax is justified, says Oleg Alekseyev, President of the National Association of Event Tourism Specialists. “The introduction of a resort tax for visitors coming to a region or a country as a whole is a common and generally accepted world practice, so we have not come up with anything new. And in general, I don’t see anything wrong in the introduction of a resort tax,” the expert believes.
What is the resort tax used for? It is used to improve the tourism infrastructure. For example, this money was used to improve the embankment and equip the squares in Kabardinka and Gelendzhik.
It turns out that the spending of funds is targeted, they cannot be spent on solving other problems in the region. However, other issues remain, in particular those related to administrating the resort tax collected by hotels ‘on the spot’. As a result, tourists can avoid the additional expenses. If evading the payment of a resort tax becomes common, violators can be fined.
At the same time, the administrating of the resort tax is really a difficult task that potentially leaves room for violations, Oleg Alekseyev believes.
“The fact is that I do not see that the money collected really resulted in a serious improvement in the tourism infrastructure in the regions where the resort tax has been introduced. Of course, something is done, but the feeling is that not enough is done. And sometimes, it is difficult to determine how wisely the money from the resort tax was spent on solving a particular problem related to the tourism infrastructure,” explains the expert.
However, not every tourist has to pay a resort tax. For example, residents of the region where the resort tax is levied are exempted from paying it, as well as those who do not live in the region but have a real estate or work under a contract or an employment contract. Also, the resort tax is not paid on the day of arrival and the payment begins only from the first full day of stay on vacation. The children under 16 years old, low-income families and citizens suffering from tuberculosis, disabled people (group 1 or group 2), disabled war veterans, family members of deceased disabled war veterans, participants in the Great Patriotic War and combat veterans are exempted from paying the resort tax. It is especially worth emphasizing that the resort tax is paid in case of the accommodation in official, registered hotels and hostels, if vacationers choose a private house to stay in a resort city, a resort tax does not apply to them.
Those who decide to book a hotel room should be prepared for additional expenses. However, the expenses are not large. For example, a family with two adult children that decided to spend their vacation at the seaside in Sochi for 10 days, should pay only for 9 days and the total amount for four persons is 1,800 rubles. Considering the fact that a budget hotel located not ‘on the first line’ can cost at least 3,000 rubles per day, and the air tickets, for example, in the off-peak season can cost about 60,000 rubles on average for four persons, the family can pay 1,800 rubles more, which is not a great sum.
Oleg Alekseyev believes that the most important thing in the current situation in the Russian tourism industry is really not the size of a resort tax that is a common thing. According to the expert, the main problem is the high cost of recreation in our country and a resort tax added to it is just a ‘drop in the bucket’.
“Today, for example, a four-day vacation on the Lake Baikal coast costs from 80,000 rubles, including the air ticket. This is the sum of money that not every person can earn per month. It is clear that I am talking about the average figures, but still, in general, traveling somewhere on vacations is quite expensive in Russia today. And this is the main problem that needs to be solved,” the expert sums up.
As it became known, the Ministry of Economic Development plans to work out proposals for modernizing the resort tax experiment from 2025. Representatives of hotel chains, regions and the Russian Union of Travel Industry are expected to take part in this work.
Currently, the experiment on collecting resort tax is being conducted in the Altai, Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories, as well as St. Petersburg. It will end in the current 2024.
The Ministry of Economic Development places taking the decision on introducing resort tax on the regions. “Taking into account the analysis of the results of the experiment and feedback from regional governments, hotel chains and experts, it was proposed to extend the established practice to all regions of the country in the form of a tourist tax, when a fixed fee will be charged per hotel room, and not per person staying in it. Whether to apply the tourist tax or not, as well as its amount, will be the final decision of the government of a specific subject of the country”, the department believes.
The plans are to use the money collected through the tourist tax for creating, repairing and reconstructing the tourist infrastructure facilities. Information about all hotels and inns paying the tourist tax will be aggregated in the Unified List of Classified Accommodation Facilities operated by Rosaccreditation. At the same time, the tourist tax will be administered by the tax service, so businesses will not have to take additional actions to report to the Federal Tax Service.
A tourist tax on a hotel room is levied in many countries around the world. The Ministry of Economic Development noted that based on the analysis of data from 30 countries, the tourist tax rate proposed in Russia is among the lowest ones. The base tourist tax rate should be about 65 rubles per room per day, that is, 6 thousand rubles per quarter. This rate will be set by regions. It’s also proposed to give the right to regions to apply a reduction factor from 0 to 1 depending on a season and occupancy of accommodation facilities.
