Economy minister rejects lower hotel VAT

I have read an article in the online version “Austriantimes.at” and it deals with lower value-added tax on hotel rooms.

So Economy Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner rejected calls for lower VAT on hotel rooms. He thought it would be more important to improve the strategy and marketing.

Mitterlehner also said that the ministry would meet tourism organizations in order to discuss a strategy for 2010.

The Austrian Hotel Association aimed to make the hotel industry more competitive. Therefore they called for it to be lowered and that is the reason why the VAT should be decreased from the current 10 to 5 per cent.

But ÖHV co-president Peter Peer pointed out that bookings have not gone down much since prices and turnover had plunged. In addition he mentioned that the VAT rates on hotel rooms were 3.6 per cent in Switzerland compared to 5.5 per cent in France and Italy.

In my opinion it’s unnecessary to lower the VAT because I think the hotels are actually not in a crisis as Peter Peer remarked that the bookings have not much to decreased.

http://www.austriantimes.at/news/Business/2010-01-21/19868/Economy_minister_rejects_lower_hotel_VAT_

Words:

to plunge (schnell sinken) : Prices and turnover had plunged.

CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS

Today I’d like to give you some information how Christmas is celebrated in other countries.

Christmas in America

Early European settlers brought many traditions to the United States. Many settled in the early days in the South, these settlers would send Christmas greetings to their distant neighbors by shooting firearms and letting off fireworks.

In Hawaii this practice is still in use as under the sunny skies, Santa Claus arrives by boat and Christmas dinner is eaten outdoors.In Alaska, a star on a pole is taken from door to door, followed by Herod's Men, who try to capture the star. Colonial doorways are often decorated with pineapple, a symbol of hospitality.In Alaska, boys and girls with lanterns on poles carry a large figure of a star from door to door. They sing carols and are invited in for supper.

Christmas in Italy

The Christmas season in Italy goes for three weeks, starting 8 days before Christmas known as the Novena. During this period, children go from house to house reciting Christmas poems and singing.In some parts shepherds bring musical instruments into the villages, play and sing Christmas songs. A strict feast is observed for 24 hours before Christmas Eve, and is followed by a celebration meal, in which a light Milanese cake called panettone features as well as chocolate.

Christmas in France

On Christmas Eve, children leave their shoes by the fireplace to be filled with gifts from Pere Noel. In the morning they also find that sweets, fruit, nuts and small toys have been hung on the tree.In France it is a time for the whole family to come together at Christmas time to holiday and worship. On the eve of Christmas beautifully lit churches and cathedrals, ring out Christmas carols with the church bells.Once dinner is over and the family has retired to bed, they leave a fire burning and food and drink on the table in case the Virgin Mary calls in.In the north of France, children are given gifts on December 6, which is St. Nicholas' Day, instead of Christmas Day. The adults give each others presents on New Year's Day.

Flora's experiences

I have heard an interview from Flora.
Flora talked about her experiences when she was working as a language assistant in Austria.
She said that she learned so much more during her stay in Austria as she had learned from many other books.
Flora said that she had met many interesting people and that her opinion of Austria had changed.
She also said that she started to correct the clichés about the Austrians and the Irish people.

E-cars-project

I have just read an article in today’s online version „Austriantimes.at“ and it talks about an electric car project.
I thought you might be interested because I think this topic is very important for our future. Basically what this article says is that there will be a project to put 100,000 electric cars on the road by 2020. They also said that the cars will cost between 25.000 and 30.000 euros. Mario Summer from Magna Steyr pointed out that so-called e-cars would be in mass production by 2017. It is also mentioned that the batteries of the cars would take about 20 minutes to charge. E-cars would have to be used for longer trips. Mr. Summer also said that the production will take him two or three years. In my opinion it’s a good investment in our future and the cars will be better for the environment.

investment (Investition): when you pay money for a thing you make an investment.

enviroment (Umwelt): e-cars will be good for our environment.

link to the original site
http://www.austriantimes.at/news/Business/2009-09-18/16516/Austrian_Mobile_Power_in_electric_car_project

I have just read an article in the today’s online version of “austriantimes.at” and it talks about a new route of British Airways.I thought you might be interested because nearly everybody goes to holiday by plane.Basically what it says is that British Airways are going to run a new route to Austria. The route will serve London (Gatwick) and Innsbruck.What surprised me the most is the fact that the BA sees the Austrian market positive.It is also mentioned that they want to open the route despite running an expected loss of 255 million Euros last year.In my opinion it is a big risk because, as we see an example at AUA, the numbers of Austrian passengers are falling.

PREVIEW

I have read an article in Katharina Astleithner’s blog “myblogAstleithner.blogspot.com”.
And it talks about Dress codes and school uniforms.

I thought you might be interested because I think it’s a very important and interesting issue for students. They should be able to give there own opinion about this issue and they should know the advantages and disadvantages.
What this article says is that school uniforms aren’t so good because they are a reduction of freedom and they are unnecessary at school because most of the people follow such standards.
It also says that people should be able to wear whatever they want to wear at school.

I rather disagree with the author because in my opinion school uniforms are very necessary and convenient because they protect poorer students from discrimination and you don’t have to spend so much time on looking for the right shirt or the right jean.
Certainly school uniforms don’t have only advantages but I think they have more advantages than disadvantages.

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick was the first religious missionary in Ireland. He was born in the year 386 in England his name was Maewyn.

The Irish people had kidnapped him when he was 16 years old and had put him on a green island, after six years he saw an angel who persuaded him to escape.

He went to France where he became a priest. From that time on he was called Saint Patrick.

He helped people, created schools and did a lot of other good things.

When he died on March the 17th in the year 461, all Irish people changed into religious people and on that day all people celebrated Saint Patrick.

Today his day is celebrated in lots of town and countries.

The biggest and greatest parades take place in Dublin, New York, Boston, New Orleans, Chicago, Manchester and Savannah.

Especially on this day people celebrate with a lot of beer and green things, stuff and costumes.