Roeselare (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Roeselare has introduced a €1.75 tourist tax, with officials arguing that rising hospitality and infrastructure costs should not fall solely on residents.
In the forthcoming times, the city wants to become more well- known as a trip destination. Although this boosts the original frugality, it also necessitates new investments, which Roeselare plans to pay for with the tourist duty.
The city’s multi-year strategy includes the introduction of a tourist tax.
“We are increasingly profiling ourselves as a tourist attraction,”
says Alderman for Tourism Matthijs Samyn (CD&V).
“More visitors mean more activity in our shops, cafes, and restaurants. But it does mean we have to invest to market the city and make it attractive. That’s why we’re introducing the tourist tax. Not all the burden should fall on the residents.”
The tax is less than the price of a cup of coffee, at €1.75 per person every night. They consider that to be reasonable. It’s a minor donation, especially when compared to other metropolises. You pay €3.75 in Bruges and €3.50 in Kortrijk. By the way, callers to our youth caravansaries are free from paying the duty.
The duty money will be reinvested in the trip and hostel sectors. They want to put money into events, lodestones , and walking and bicycling routes, in other words, anything that boosts the original frugality and caller experience.
“We’ve also invested in tourism in recent years, and it’s paying off. More tourists are coming to our city. This season, they’re mainly day trippers, who visit Radio 2’s Christmas village, for example .
But the fact that we have more visitors is also because we’re focusing on exhibitions or attractions like the Rodenbach brewery ,”
Samyn concludes.
How will the €1.75 tourist tax be collected in Roeselare?
In Roeselare, the €1.75 tourist duty follows standard Belgian external practices, where accommodation providers (hospices, vacation homes, and analogous establishments) collect the figure directly from guests at check- in or upon departure, adding it independently to checks.
Providers register with the original authority, track overnight stays (banning immunity like minors under a certain age), and remit added up payments daily or yearly via online affirmations or forms to the external duty office.
Non-compliance incurs forfeitures; finances support tourism structure without Handbasket on the duty itself, icing translucency through detailed guest logs on advents, stays, and quantities due.
The duty, set by external decree under Belgium’s toeristenbelasting frame, generates finances allocated for tourism creation and public advancements; immunity may apply for children or long- term stays, aligning with rates in near metropolises like Bruges (€2.83).
