BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 8
By Tamilla Mammadova - Trend:
Georgian Economy Minister Natia Turnava held a presentation on how the government is planning to help the tourism industry reopen and overcome challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Trend reports via Georgian media.
"We have been helping the tourism industry with various benefits and programs since the first day of the crisis, but this is no longer enough", said Turnava.
Meanwhile, the government provided emergency support that included deferring property and personal income taxes for four months for businesses operating in the travel and tourism sector until November 1, 2020.
"In total, taxes were deferred for 6,118 businesses. The budget for this support totalled 113 million lari ($35.2 million). Furthermore, small hotels get subsidies from the state for 80 percent of bank interest payments throughout six months. A total of 2,200 hotels applied for the subsidy," said Turnava.
Turnava added that the state helps employees, who lost jobs or were sent home for unpaid leave and also employers for maintaining jobs.
As she noted, 45 million lari ($14 million) will be spent on property tax exemption of tourism industry in 2020, 90 million lari ($28 million) - on personal income tax exemption and deferral for travel industry, 60 million lari ($18.6 million) - on bank loan subsidies for about 3,000 hotels, 5 million lari ($.5 million) - for support to travel agencies and guides.
In total, 200 million lari ($62.3 million) will be spent from the state budget for tourism sector recovery plan.
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