XN000022-1996-05-31 — Page 27

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Licence fees for hotels and guesthouses to be revised

The fees for the issuing and renewal of licences and certificates of exemption for hotels and guesthouses will be adjusted from August 1 to recover the cost of providing the licensing services under the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance.

A spokesman for the Home Affairs Branch today (Friday) said the proposed fees are in line with the "user pays" principle and that they reflect the cost incurred in licensing hotels and guesthouses of different sizes.

"To avoid immediate sharp increases in licence fees for large hotels, we propose to revise the licence fees for establishments with more than 100 rooms under a three-year cost recovery programme," he said.

He pointed out that the proposed fee scale is also more equitable to the operators of guesthouses/holiday flats compared with the existing fee scale.

The proposed fee scale comprises ten bands, instead of the existing six. They are categorised according to the number of rooms.

Under the new scale, the annual licence fees will range from $2,800 for establishments with five rooms or less to $114,280 for hotels with over 500 rooms.

The spokesman said about 40 per cent of the establishments will pay less under the new scale.

"For example, a guesthouse/holiday flat of five rooms or less will pay $2,800, compared to $4,065 under the existing scale, a decrease of 31 per cent," he said.

"The increase in fees for those establishments with six to nine rooms, about 45 per cent of the establishments, will be moderate in absolute terms. For example, a nine-room guesthouse pays $4,065 under the existing scale, compared to $5,360 under the proposed scale.

"The increase in fees for the remaining 15 per cent of the establishments, mostly hotels in the upper bands, will be greater but gradual.

"The proposed fee for establishments with more than 100 rooms aims to recover about 50 per cent of the costs in the first phase of the three-year cost recovery programme."