Cappelli: Amendments to the law and regulations are not against private renters

The Ministry of Tourism is finalizing the proposal for amendments to the Hospitality Act and the accompanying regulations on the categorization and classification of facilities, which will be open for public discussion in 15 days, then submitted to the Government for adoption in the Parliament no later than autumn and implemented, emphasized Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli on Thursday.

Although it has been mentioned in public that the amendments to this law and regulations are detrimental to private renters, Cappelli asserts that this is not true and explains that they are aimed at balancing the market situation as some facilities in private accommodation were categorized under different regulations from 1995 to 2016.

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– With the amendments, we seek to ensure that everyone is equally categorized and that every three stars mean the same, which is not currently the case. It is important that everyone increases quality, and it is not possible for some private apartments to be closed, demolished, penalized, or similar due to the new amendments to the law and regulations, the minister stated at a meeting with journalists.

He also explained that those who registered and received a category under the old regulation from 1995, which was valid until 2007, will now have to submit a request to local offices for re-categorization within four years. This request is important for them to seek future loans from HBOR with favorable interest rates that will be subsidized by the Ministry of Tourism and which individuals can apply for to improve facilities and increase quality.

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Cappelli also pointed out that in Croatian family tourist accommodation, there are facilities that have not been invested in for years, not even for basic maintenance, painting walls, flooring, etc., and with the new regulations, practically everyone will have to do this.

His chief advisor Barbara Mesić highlighted that of the total 92 thousand facilities in households, about 20 thousand are categorized under the regulation from 1995 and they will have to submit a request for new categorization.

– The conditions in the new regulation will not be any more restrictive than in the last ones from 2016 and 2007, but will simply require alignment for those categorized before 2007, Mesić said.

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Assistant Minister of Tourism Monika Udovičić emphasized that there is no reason for fear and panic among anyone, including those with old solutions.

– If they do not want to invest and seek a higher category, the only thing that can happen is that their number of stars may decrease. I believe that for many, this re-categorization will be simple because many have invested significantly in quality and content in recent years, Udovičić said.

Željko Cvrtila from the Ministry of Tourism responsible for categorization explained that the base for obtaining a category will still be the square footage of apartments or rooms.

– Previously, for example, we had a requirement that each room must have a separate toilet, but this was not strictly enforced, and now this will be insisted upon, as well as on some other conditions essential for obtaining a certain category, such as accommodation equipment, technological innovations, and other aspects in line with new trends, Cvrtila said.

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Minister Cappelli emphasized that, although there were some ideas to abolish categorization and stars, Croatia is still not ready for that.

– Stars are still very important and mean a lot to hoteliers and other accommodations, as well as to tourists, because they signify a certain quality, and the time has not yet matured for this to be abolished, especially while we do not have many large and strong global hotel brands, concluded Cappelli.