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The Regulation on the requirements for places offering accommodation, food and entertainment and the rules for their categorization, denial of categorization, downscaling, closure and termination of their categorization is in force
Today (25th August 2015) in issue 65 of the Official Gazette the Regulation on the requirements for places offering accommodation, food and entertainment and the rules for their categorization, denial of categorization, downscaling, closure and termination of categorization was published. The legal framework for drafting and adopting the Regulation is article 121, paragraph 5 of the Law on Tourism.
Thus the Ministry of Tourism will introduce clear rules and regulations for the categorization of tourist sites. Tourist places fall into two main categories – class A which includes hotels, motels, tourist apartment complexes, vacation villa areas, tourist villages and villas; class B – family hotels, hostels, boarding houses, holiday houses, guest houses, guest rooms, guest apartments, bungalows and camping areas; restaurants, fast-food establishments, refreshment places, cafés, pastries and bars. All outdated requirements have been discarded and new ones that take into account the actual condition of the accommodation places and the trends in demand have been drafted.
Special rules for the construction, equipment and furnishing of hotel rooms and apartments, including equipment for people with limited mobility are also introduced. For the first time ever requirements for the breakfast menu of all-inclusive services and the room-service are also drafted.
The Regulation also stipulates the mandatory introduction of the telephone number 9 at the reception desks of hotels. Thus tourists will have quick access to emergency help.
The Hotel Stars European categorization has been adopted – up to 15% of the rooms are allowed to be of a smaller size than the one required for the given category as long as tourist services consumers have been informed about it in advance. This alleviation is geared towards older and urban area hotels that cannot make the necessary technical improvements but offer additional services to their guests.
The Regulation also focuses on the camping areas and the zones where caravans/ campers can be parked or tents and bungalows are located. Minimal requirements for this type of tourist service have been introduced such as securing an electrical installation and electricity for all camping units. Tents will be marked while the required area for one tent is 50 sq.m. (three-star camping category), 40 sq.m. (two-star camping category) and 32 sq.m. (one-star category). Places for caravans must also be marked and equipped and have access to water and electricity.
Once the Regulation is in force all accommodation and food places will have a 6-month grace period to meet the new requirements. All new tourist sites will be categorized in accordance with the newly adopted regulation.
