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Belarus prepares proposals to support tourism industry

Vitaly Gritsevich. An archive photo

MINSK, 19 March (BelTA) – Belarus’ Sport and Tourism Ministry has prepared the proposals to support the tourism industry amid the coronavirus outbreak, Vitaly Gritsevich, deputy director of the tourism department at the Sport and Tourism Ministry, told the media in Minsk on 19 March, BelTA has learned.

“The proposals mainly relate to the tax and rental holidays and preferential loans to keep the tourism industry afloat at the moment,” Vitaly Gritsevich said.

There is also a question of tours refund. According to the legislation, travel agencies should return money within seven days. One of the proposals suggest deferring refunds for the purchased tours. “First of all, this will allow returning the money for tours in full, without bringing the travel agency to bankruptcy. The bankruptcy will lead to the situation when one or two people get refunds while the rest do not,” Vitaly Gritsevich explained.

A letter with the proposals to support the tourism industry was sent to the Economy Ministry to prepare a regulatory act.

According to the Belarusian Statistics Committee, there were 1,544 tourism organizations in Belarus at the end of 2019. A total of 982,900 people went on vacation via travel agencies in 2019.

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