The tourism sector can bring higher revenues into the state budget if all the players from the field act concertedly and if more is invested in tourism infrastructure, including from budgetary sources, stated the director of the Tourism Agency of Moldova Stanislav Rusu. “Capital investments are not made today. Even if such are made, these are intended for social facilities. Tourism is poorly financed,” Stanislav Rusu stated for IPN.
The Tourism Agency director drew a parallel with Romania, Bulgaria and Poland, which invested a lot in tourism infrastructure. When Romania obtained the status of candidate for EU membership, funds of millions of euros for tourism promotion opened up to it. Regrettably, Moldova does not have access to such European funds. “That’s why it is too early to expect a boom in the sector. Particular organizations and international projects are supported, but these focus strictly on the organization of training courses, local strategies and financing of tourist projects at the level of 50%,” stated Stanislav Rusu.
According to him, the fact that the tourist operators focus mainly on outbound tourism is a problem. “Of the over 300 business entities working in tourism, about 5% practice inbound tourism, but the situation improved compared with several years ago, when the figure stood at 1%. Regrettably, the companies do not venture to formulate inbound tourism offers as they need larger investments in marketing, personnel and promotion,” said the Tourism Agency director.
Starting with last year, the Government for the first time decided to support this sector more than the previous years. A sum of 20 million lei was allocated through the 2017 Agriculture Subsidization Fund for farmers who want to start an agri-business and this amount will be allotted annually from now on. Through the National Regional Development Fund, the Government allocates 20 million a year for enhancing the country’s tourism attractiveness. Furthermore, €50,000 is provided annually for promotional activities.
In 2016, foreigners made 3.4 million visits to Moldova. In the Republic of Moldova, there are about 250 tourist accommodation facilities. The hotels are the most numerous ones and are followed by pensions, villages, motels and spas. The official statistics do not include private apartments and village homes that provide accommodation. Of the 250 registered accommodation facilities, only 120 possess classification certificates.
