HostelBookers represents almost 25,000 properties on its site, from all corners of the globe. Quite an amazing feat, considering there has always been restrictions on signing / working with properties in Europe (a primary market) that were not VAT registered.

This has meant over the years, HostelBookers has had to turn away a lot of legitimate properties / businesses who file their taxes under their personal tax numbers. Usually this is done for owners of smaller B&B’s, pensions, hostales and apartments, where they earn under the threshold and are not required to have a business tax number.

With HostelBookers being based in the UK and governed by UK tax laws, working with non VAT registered properties in the EU may have resulted in fines / having to pay tax on all bookings generated by these types of properties.

Recently, HostelBookers took the decision to change its policy and open its books to these smaller, legitimate properties across the EU – meaning they will start to pay the necessary tax on these bookings in order to work with them. It will be a huge boost to the OTA and to the properties (particularly in Spain and Italy), who supply this budget accommodation that HostelBookers can represent and sell well.

So Spanish properties operating on their ‘NIF’ and in Italy, their ‘codice fiscale’ (personal tax numbers) are now fine to register with HostelBookers and begin to accept bookings. This is applicable to all countries in the EU with their different personal tax numbers.

Dubrovnik, Croatia

The timing is particularly well placed as Croatia recently became the 28th member of the European Union. The most common types of accommodation there are smaller pensions and apartments, which means that HostelBooker’s Croatian product folio will remain in tact.

Also, with HostelBookers now offering an API for channel managers and properties to be supported through 2 way XML, it seems a property boom is imminent on the HostelBookers site. HostelBookers ongoing  and constant representation at multiple industry events and conferences, strongly supports their contracting and growth strategies.

So, as HostelBookers realign their marketing and business requirements – if you are a smaller property in the EU that wishes to be represented, contact their Product Department by signing up at https://secure.hostelbookers.com/join/