Bulgaria Hunts Down British Owners of Illegal Hotels
Crime | May 11, 2007, FridayDozens of British citizens have turned their Bulgarian homes into illegal hotels, authorities from Veliko Tarnovo complain.
The region is one of the most wanted by Britons and many of the owners of three- and four-story houses have placed Internet ads claiming to offer hotel services.
This is illegal, they don't have a permit to do that and they are unloyal competition to the legal hotels in the area, as their prices are lower, Trud daily newspaper reports. To add to that they don't declare their revenues and Bulgaria misses out on the taxes, Dessislava Zaevska, head of the Municipal Economy division in Veliko Tarnovo's municipality commented. A room in a registered hotel in the city costs about BGN 70 to BGN 100, while the 'phantom' hotels offer good consitions for about BGN 40 - BGN 50.
Bulgaria still doesn't have a unified hotel registry, so it is hard to track those people down, Zaeva says. She adds that the municipality has started looking for ads online to catch the Britons who break the law. Another problem is that they claim that the people staying in their house are their friends and it is hard to prove they are getting paid, she sighs.
The region is one of the most wanted by Britons and many of the owners of three- and four-story houses have placed Internet ads claiming to offer hotel services.
This is illegal, they don't have a permit to do that and they are unloyal competition to the legal hotels in the area, as their prices are lower, Trud daily newspaper reports. To add to that they don't declare their revenues and Bulgaria misses out on the taxes, Dessislava Zaevska, head of the Municipal Economy division in Veliko Tarnovo's municipality commented. A room in a registered hotel in the city costs about BGN 70 to BGN 100, while the 'phantom' hotels offer good consitions for about BGN 40 - BGN 50.
Bulgaria still doesn't have a unified hotel registry, so it is hard to track those people down, Zaeva says. She adds that the municipality has started looking for ads online to catch the Britons who break the law. Another problem is that they claim that the people staying in their house are their friends and it is hard to prove they are getting paid, she sighs.
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