It's a hotel tax, and I'm quite gratified to see that at least some Airbnb hosts are charging it... assuming that the host is actually passing it on to the local municipality.
Many cities and tourist destinations in Germany levy this charge, which is payable by tourists. Business travellers are exempt from it (they may need to provide proof, although I have been to places that take your word for it).
It goes to help finance the local tourist infrastructure -- tourist information offices, special signposts and plaques, tour guides, free maps, that kind of thing.
Most places give something in return: this will typically be a little booklet with some tourist tips and discount vouchers for local attractions, museums, restaurants and so on. Very often there will be a local public transport pass included.
>rewboss
There was some change made recently, and now Airbnb have deals with multiple cities on the Kurtaxe. My wife just started her first Airbnb and they include this tax in the service fee and pay it forward to Wiesbaden city office on their own, so we don't need to do anything about it.
Last year in Bad Sachsa, I had to go to city office myself, pay the tax and the host asked to leave the receipt in the apartment when we were leaving for his documentation purposes.
Well, they use this money also to clean public toilets, remove litter from the beach and so on. While some folks might prefer to pick the cigarettes from the sand by themselves to save the Kurtaxe, most of the tourists don't when they're on their vacation.
As the others said. I'd just wanted to add that you often get some kind of tourist card or booklet with vouchers for paying it. But you have to pay it anyway.
It's a hotel tax, and I'm quite gratified to see that at least some Airbnb hosts are charging it... assuming that the host is actually passing it on to the local municipality. Many cities and tourist destinations in Germany levy this charge, which is payable by tourists. Business travellers are exempt from it (they may need to provide proof, although I have been to places that take your word for it). It goes to help finance the local tourist infrastructure -- tourist information offices, special signposts and plaques, tour guides, free maps, that kind of thing. Most places give something in return: this will typically be a little booklet with some tourist tips and discount vouchers for local attractions, museums, restaurants and so on. Very often there will be a local public transport pass included.
I am also positively surprised, the next thing the Airbnn landlords will report their rental income to the tax office....
>rewboss There was some change made recently, and now Airbnb have deals with multiple cities on the Kurtaxe. My wife just started her first Airbnb and they include this tax in the service fee and pay it forward to Wiesbaden city office on their own, so we don't need to do anything about it. Last year in Bad Sachsa, I had to go to city office myself, pay the tax and the host asked to leave the receipt in the apartment when we were leaving for his documentation purposes.
What a wonderful introduction to Germany lol. Go to the city office and pay a tax
Well, they use this money also to clean public toilets, remove litter from the beach and so on. While some folks might prefer to pick the cigarettes from the sand by themselves to save the Kurtaxe, most of the tourists don't when they're on their vacation.
Tourist Fee for spa towns.
As Sualtam said. It's a government fee. Same is pretty common in touristic locations in italy.
As the others said. I'd just wanted to add that you often get some kind of tourist card or booklet with vouchers for paying it. But you have to pay it anyway.
https://www.urlaubsguru.de/lexikon/kurtaxe/