Komunikim- Shtypi

Agro-Tourism Development to Reduce Poverty

The government is providing important fiscal incentives to agro-tourism by stimulating this sector in order to reduce poverty, Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Saturday in a meeting with 200 tour operators in the southwestern city of Berat, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Berat has a lot of problems, Rama said, adding that it cannot be compared to the situation of a couple of years ago, where there was no hope for anyone. The government's target in the next mandate of the municipalities is the development of agro-tourism, Rama said. Speaking about government fiscal incentives for boosting agro-tourism, Rama said that this sector as well as 5- star hotels pay only 6% of value added tax (VAT) and 5% of profit tax. Moreover, PM Rama said that a special program of cooperation between the government, municipalities and the Albanian Development Fund (ADF) for traditional guesthouses will be drafted soon in order to boost development in the next mandate and reach 300,000 visitors. Prime Minister Edi Rama urges the municipalities to cut tax on traditional guesthouses for which there is an investment plan and increase tax for closed guesthouses. In order to promote tourism and local traditional products, the government plans to build a national museum of Raki (traditional alcoholic drink) in the southeastern city of Korca and a national museum of wine in Berat.

SOURCE: Seenews