A total of 15 million denars will be allocated from the budget of the Ministry of Economy to subsidize annual vacations of the low-income individuals, Economy Minister Kreshnik Bekteshi said Wednesday.
“Unlike last year when we allocated EUR 12 million for distributing vouchers for domestic tourism, this year we decided to allocate 15 million denars for the first half of the year,” Bekteshi said.
“Aimed at encouraging domestic tourism, the Ministry of Economy in 2018 started the implementation of this programme, but also to enable low-income individuals to take vacation and visit our tourist destinations,” Bekteshi told reporters during today’s visit to Skopje East Gate along with Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, Deputy PM for Economic Affairs Fatmir Bytyqi and Minister of Transport and Communications Blagoj Bochvarski.
By the end of the year, if all the funds are used, we will find other opportunities within the Ministry of Economy, but also through a potential budget rebalance to supplement the funds if they are realized 100 percent, he added.
Bekteshi said that last year about 70 percent of the planned funds for subsidized vacation and for distributing domestic tourism vouchers were implemented as a measure to support the tourism as one of the sectors most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
