November the 13th, 2024 – Tourism Minister Tonči Glavina has taken another swing at so-called ”rentiership”, claiming that it harms the idea of sustainable Croatian tourism.
New rules for property owners, particularly those who rent out their properties to tourists, have already caused a huge stir. Croatian landlords have threatened constitutional lawsuits against the government owing to new amendments, and it seems that rentiership is a target for the government.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Tourism Minister Tonči Glavina was recently present at a conference in Split organised by the Croatian Association of Employers and BKS Bank. During it, he warned that the short-term rental of apartments to tourists and “rentiership” has begun to threaten sustainable Croatian tourism. He added that this year alone, 26,000 new beds were placed on offered for short-term rent, which reduced the occupancy of existing apartments and their income from tourism.
He then touched on the goals from the Sustainable Tourism Development Strategy until 2030, placing particular emphasis on the framework of new tax changes and the introduction of property tax.
“The government is carrying out comprehensive reforms of the management of tourism development, which is carried out at the national level within the triangle of spatial, tax and tourism policy. Some of these activities are focused on policies implemented at the local level.
When we talk about the national level, we started with the Law on Management and Maintenance of Buildings, then we continued with changes to tax laws, and as a third step, by the end of the year, changes to the Law on Hospitality Activities will take place. The latter are concrete measures which are exclusively in support of the development of sustainable Croatian tourism.
With these upcoming changes, we’re make the strongest contribution to the sustainable structure of accommodation capacities with a special focus on the satisfaction and quality of the local population. We’ve also protected and preserved the meaning of “host” in actual family accommodation, as part of the tradition and added value of the wider Croatian tourist offer,” stated Glavina.
To briefly recall, sustainable Croatian tourism has been the topic on the lips of many for some time now, as the country’s obsession with eVisitor numbers and the insufferable crowds of summer do more harm than good. Croatian landlords down on the coast have thus far been able to relax during summer, with their properties filled with tourists, but is that set to change? Have a look at what is being proposed, and why so many are up in arms.
