site.bta Hotel Owners Required to Keep Register of Their Guests

Hotel Owners Required to Keep Register of Their Guests

Sofia, September 14 (BTA) - The National Assembly on Wednesday required hotel owners to keep a register of their guests. The new provision is part of a set of Tourism Act amendments which passed on second reading without being debated.

The type of information which should be entered in such a register will be specified by the Minister of Tourism and the requirements will be posted on the ministry's website. The registers will be maintained through a central information system run by the Minister of Tourism and accessible through a public online access application.

A hotel owner who does not keep a register of his or her guests will be fined 2,000 leva; sole proprietors and legal entities will face a pecuniary penalty of 7,000 leva, the legislature resolved. A register which does not conform to relevant regulations will attract a fine of between 100 and 1,000 leva; sole proprietors and legal entities will face a pecuniary penalty of 500 to 5,000 leva.

If a hotel owner fails to provide or share information through the Integrated Tourism Information System (ITIS), he or she will be fined 1,000 leva; sole proprietors and legal entities will face a pecuniary penalty of 5,000 leva.

When the guests are from non-EU countries, the hotel owner must report the number of the guests and provide information about their identity as per the Aliens in the Republic of Bulgaria Act, as well as the dates of checking in and out of the hotel. The information should be entered into the ITIS.

The approved amendments also require municipality mayors, or public officials authorized by them, to create and maintain an electronic register of all tourist sites in their municipality certified on a temporary basis and the tourist facilities categorized by the mayor.

Within a year after the amendments enter into force, the Minister of Tourism should provide ITIS information sharing interfaces.