Bucharest, May 20, 2024

Dear Mr. Deputy Mayor General,

Dear Mr. President of PNL Bucharest,

Romanian Hotel Industry Federation ((FIHR) is the first employers' organization in Romanian tourism being present at national level in 28 counties and cumulating over 17,000 rooms in member hotel properties. FIHR is a representative of hotel interests at national level through permanent dialogue with the authorities and the media, as well as with other associative entities at national and European level. FIHR is affiliated with HOTREC at European level and with the Concordia Employers' Confederation at national level, the employers' confederation representative of the Romanian business environment. FIHR is a founding member of the Association for the Promotion and Development of Tourism in Bucharest – Bucharest Convention & Visitors Bureau, named Bucharest Tourism Board (BTB) based on HCGMB no. 67/2014.

Hereby, we would like to communicate to you a series of issues that we are facing in the hospitality field and for which we consider that the support of the Bucharest City Hall is essential in solving them.

We mention below the main topics that concern us:

1. Urgent establishment of the Destination Management Organization Bucharest and allocating the budget collected from the special tax for the tourism promotion of the municipality of Bucharest to be properly managed through a strategy for promoting Bucharest - these steps could improve the capital's presence in the top preferences of international tourists, with a positive impact on the local economy;
2. Applying the special tax for the tourism promotion of the municipality of Bucharest also in the case of accommodation units such as apartments and/or rooms for rent, classified by the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism as a fixed fee/month. By establishing a fixed level of the promotion fee, the owners of such authorized units are encouraged to report the occupancy rate in a real way, which will lead to accurate statistics at the municipal level, for the benefit of budget planning for the following periods but also for the purpose of improving the level of tax collection at the local level;
3. Ensuring a dialogue on the subject of the proposed night-time supply program through the draft decision on the regulation of the goods supply program for economic agents operating on the territory of the Municipality of Bucharest launched in December 2023 adapted to the specifics of the activities currently carried out by hotels (including event organization);
4. Access for buses and creation of parking spaces for them near/as close as possible to the main objectives in the center to improve tourist flows;
5. Granting as soon as possible, according to legal provisions, of construction permits for the rehabilitation of buildings for hotel use, within reasonable deadlines, so as not to discourage investors – especially for historical monument buildings, for which the number of approvals is considerable. Significant investments play a crucial role for tourism in Bucharest and contribute to improving the city's image with benefits for all parties involved (local authorities and private operators);
6. Improving terrace authorization deadlines to reduce tourist losses – terraces represent an important revenue center for both hotels (better reviews) and local authorities;
7. Undertaking public investments for tourism by building conference center/multipurpose hall/multipurpose hall facilities that can be used in the case of large-scale events. Due to the limitation of spaces suitable for organizing events such as congresses or festivals, exhibitions or international fairs (Romexpo or the Palace of Parliament), Bucharest loses the opportunity to remain attractive for their organizers and participants - such events generate flows of tens of thousands of tourists, employment opportunities, significant increases in economic activities (accommodation, consumption).

We are fully available to elaborate on the aspects mentioned above.