May the 6th, 2023 – The Croatian catering and hospitality industry has enjoyed 28 percent more turnover in April 2023 when compared to the same month last year. While this is good news, it also speaks volumes about Eurozone accession and price hikes.
As Jadranka Dozan/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, cafes, restaurants and other Croatian catering and hospitality facilities which deal with the preparation and serving of food and drinks and which are in the fiscalisation system registered 221.6 million euros in turnover last month.
In April of last year, slightly more than 1.3 billion kuna, or 173 million euros, passed through the fiscal cash registers in the Croatian catering and hospitality sector, which means that the value of the bills issued this year is 28 percent higher.
Such an increase in fiscalised turnover was achieved due to a five percent higher number of invoices and bills issued, and in addition to the possible influence of the consumption structure, this also speaks volumes about price hikes and Croatia’s new currency – the euro.
In any case, the data kept by the Tax Administration shows that in the Croatian catering and hospitality industry (the activity of preparing and serving food and beverages), fiscalised turnover increased more strongly than at the level of all activities covered by fiscalisation, where turnover which is one fifth higher has been recorded.
The main “harvest” for the Croatian catering and hospitality sector is yet to come, and of course by this we mean the height of the summer tourist season. For example, last year, a total value of 22.5 billion kuna or three billion euros was paid by both cash and card to enterprises across the country engaged in the preparation and serving of food and beverages, and 56 percent of that was paid out in the period from June to September alone.
Cumulative data for this year shows that the beginning of the second quarter of 2023 in the Croatian catering and hospitality industry brought somewhat stronger annual turnover growth than in the first. From the beginning of this year to the end of last month, taxpayers in the catering and hospitality industry reported almost 709 million euros in turnover to the tax authorities, which is 20 percent more than in the comparable period last year.
In the first four months of 2022, more than 4 billion kuna, or 590 million euros, passed through their fiscal coffers.
In the activity of providing accommodation, which is closely linked, April’s data signals an acceleration of annual growth compared to the first quarter, which concluded with a 34 percent increase in fiscalised turnover. Last month, accommodation services saw an inflow of cash in the amount of almost 104 million euros, paid with both cards and cash, which is 43 percent more than last year’s reported amount of 547 million kuna (73 million euros).
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