The hospitality and tourism guild of the Croatian Chamber of Trades and Crafts said on Tuesday it was aware that doing business under the Covid-19 circumstances could be possible only with compliance with epidemiological rules, and it called for adopting measures to ease the impact of the crisis.

The guild recalls that the demanding epidemiological situation has produced a strong impact on businesses in the hospitality and tourism sector and changed their way of doing business.

Representatives of this sector are aware that the safety and security of their guests and employees is a top priority and that they can continue doing business only by applying the measures proposed by the national Covid-19 crisis response team.

During negotiations on those measures, efforts were made to make sure that maximum safety was achieved with as less pressure as possible being placed on those who provide services, the guild says.

However, the guild asks for the adoption of measures that can make the sector more resilient to the crisis, and in this context it requests the lowering of VAT on the preparation and serving of hot drinks, wines and beers, and the introduction of a 5% VAT rate on the preparation of meals consisting of locally produced ingredients.

They demand the prolongation of job-keeping measures as well as a simpler procedure for hiring workers on a temporary basis.