Vulnerability to crime of the hotel and catering industry in Belgium
auteur | Noël Klima |
tijdschrift | GofS (ISSN: ) |
jaargang | 2011 |
aflevering | EU Criminal Justice, Financial & Economic Crime: new perspectives |
onderdeel | Artikelen |
publicatie datum | 4 mei 2011 |
taal | English |
pagina | 129 |
samenvatting | This paper reports on explanatory qualitative research into vulnerabilities to crime within the hotel and catering industry in Belgium. The sector’s vulnerabilities expose its members to becoming a victim, but also a perpetrator (an accomplice, facilitator, etc.). Low profitability, exacerbated by pricing pressures customers and suppliers, predispose hotel and catering entrepreneurs to attempting a variety of non-legal modes of economic survival, including involvement in a ‘black market’ (‘off the books’ trading) between providers, suppliers and some customers. There are similar arrangements for the highly fluid workforce, whose hours and wages are only partially declared to the authorities, the untaxed payments then partially compensating for the low wages prevalent in the sector. Certain aspects of rules and regulations ‘backfire’, for example high VAT rates stimulate the grey economy; these and other evasions are being facilitated by sympathetic accountants skilled in hiding illegal transactions, |