Public discussion on the Law on Hospitality

In line with the Conclusion number 011-5045/2018 Board for Economy and Finance of the Government of the Republic of Serbia of May 30, 2018, the Ministry of Trade, Tourism, and Telecommunications is conducting the public discussion on the Draft Law on Hospitality which will take place in the period June 1-20, 2018.

The round table within the public discussion on the Draft Law on Hospitality will be held in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia on Tuesday June 19, 2018, starting at 10 o’clock until 12:30 p.m. in Resavska Street, no 15, room 1.

During the public discussion there will be a session of the National Council for Tourism Development to discuss and clarify the proposal of the legal solution.

Having in mind the EU regulation, regulation of developed touristic countries, the level of achieved development of tourism in the Republic of Serbia, and the requirements of the hospitality sector, the conditions are made for the adoption of a special Law on Hospitality so that this field could be systemically regulated.

Draft of the mentioned law is a result of the situation analysis in the touristic market and the consideration of the issues faced by the stakeholders in the hospitality sector.

As a priority task in the Draft Law on Hospitality, a need has been identified to reduce the grey economy in hospitality. The mentioned draft introduces the central information system in the hospitality and tourism sector as a single and centralised electronic information system, containing all the relevant data on providers of accommodation services, and accommodation facilities, where their registration is done and the data incurred from the performance of the hospitality, nautical, and hunt tourism, i.e. touristic activity are entered. Collection, storage and use of personal data are also regulated, as well as the rights of persons and protection of persons whose data are collected and processed, and the limits of the personal data protection and data storage, in the manner defined by the law regulating the personal data protection. Also, the proposed law defines that provision of accommodation services for the period shorter than 30 days shall be considered as provision of hospitality accommodation services.

Significant benefits are introduced for the natural persons, providers of accommodations services in the facility of home craft and rural touristic households. Namely, the previous obligation of service provision though mediators is abolished, then lump-sum payment of residence fee and other benefits.

Draft Law is harmonised with the valid EU regulations, Law on Inspection Control (“Official Gazette of RS”; no 36/2015) and Law on General Administration Procedure (“Official Gazette of RS”, no 18/2016), as well as the Strategy for Tourism Development in the Republic of Serbia for the period 2016-2025.