The holiday vouchers remain in force, provided that, of their value of 1,600 RON, half is the employee's contribution, these being optional, the president of Cartel Alfa, Bogdan Hossu said on Saturday at the Victoria Palace, after the meeting between tourism unions and employers and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu about the fiscal measures proposed for 2025, informs Agerpres.
On December 20, the tourism employers and unions announced that they are protesting against a possible elimination of holiday vouchers from the state budget for 2025, stating that this measure will have catastrophic consequences on the sector, but also on other related industries and "would throw Romania back 20 years".
The elimination of holiday vouchers will "severely" affect the foreign exchange balance, billions of euros will go to Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria instead of staying in the country, warned the representatives of the National Association of Travel Agencies (ANAT), in a release sent to AGERPRES.
According to ANAT, the unions are anticipating the revolts of the employees who will be deprived of bonuses, salary increases, and vacations. At the same time, this measure will have catastrophic consequences for the sector and a negative impact for related industries.
Thus, revenues from tourism, a vital sector for the Romanian economy, will decrease by 30-40%, and thousands of Romanians - especially those with modest incomes - will no longer have access to holidays, recovery treatments or rest, in the context in which almost 16% of public sector employees benefited for the first time in their lives from a holiday due to these vouchers, ANAT representatives stated.
They also argue that, by eliminating these vouchers, the confidence of private investors will be lost, who will be forced to reduce their activity or close their businesses, thus contributing to the increase in unemployment.
On the other hand, the Federation of the Hotel Industry in Romania (FIHR) recently launched an appeal to the Government of Romania regarding the "devastating" impact on the tourism industry that the fiscal measures proposed for 2025 will have without being accompanied by public policies for compensation of the negative impact and development of incoming tourism and support of investments in the field.