Culture promotion fee of the city of Cologne
On 1 December 2014 the City Council of Cologne determined new statutes concerning a culture promotion fee. Hotel guests that stay overnight in Cologne for private reasons have to pay a fee of 5% of the accommodation price.
If a guest stays overnight in Cologne for business reasons, the fee does not apply, but the guest has to prove the business purpose.
The City of Cologne provides therefor at their website the corresponding forms that have to be used:
www.stadt-koeln.de/.../kulturfoerderabgabe (Culture promotion fee) - sorry only in german
Guests have to hand in the filled out form at the hotel or they can send it to the hotel in advance if they would like to be exempt of the culture promotion fee.
Employees need the certification of their employer (can be added to form).
Certification of the employer (extract from FAQ of stadt-koeln.de)
If the form for the culture promotion fee is filled out in advance, only a stamp of the company and the signature of a superior is needed at the form! This is why we recommend to fill out the form in advance, please do not forget the stamp and the additional signature and fax it to the hotel!