On Thursday 17 December 2020, Luxembourg's Chamber of Deputies (Parliament) announced that the validity of the €50 accommodation vouchers would be extended until 18 April 2021.
The vouchers, which were issued to residents and cross-border workers in summer as part of the "Vakanz Doheem" campaign, were originally due to expire on 31 December 2020. However, a motion launched by the opposition party CSV (Christian Social People's Party) proposed to extend their validity until 31 May 2021, in light of limited opportunities to use them amid current restrictions.
Following weeks of discussions, Parliament passed the motion, although the new expiration date was set at 18 April 2021.
Luxembourg's Minister for Small and Medium-sized Businesses and Minister for Tourism, Lex Delles, confirmed that 94,413 of the 730,000 vouchers distributed have been redeemed to date. This corresponds to a payment of €4,720,650 for this sector. On average, 507 vouchers were used per weekday and 975 vouchers per weekend day. The vouchers have been validated with 260 different accommodation structures.
Minister Lex Delles highlighted that “the intermediate assessment of the action of the accommodation vouchers is very satisfactory because we have achieved the objectives that we set ourselves. We convinced residents and cross-border workers to (re-) discover the Grand Duchy and we supported accommodation structures during the health crisis". He added: "The investment related to accommodation vouchers is an important element for the stabilisation of the entire tourism sector, which is one of the sectors hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. It should nevertheless be noted that Luxembourg still has great potential as a tourist destination".
The Luxembourg government has also decided to partially extend the tourism fund to support and revive the associative tourism sector. Non-profit associations and tourist offices, which professionally manage a tourist infrastructure and ensure minimal activity, will thus be able to benefit from an extension of the participation in remuneration costs. The amount of this aid is €1,250 per employee. This support measure extends over a period of four months from December 2020 to March 2021. In addition, the deadline for submitting accounts concerning the contribution to operating costs in favour of non-profit associations and participation in the costs of projects carried out by regional tourism offices has been extended until 1 March 2021.
