The amendments to the tourism law have been approved.
The Minister of Tourism and Environment, Mirela Kumbaro, after a government meeting, presented to the media several additions and changes to law no. 93/2015 “On Tourism,” with the aim of responding to the new dynamics in the development of this sector and the private sector, in a joint regulation with the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
“The vision of this government mandate is much more advanced than the 2015 law, where the reality in the tourism sector was not at all what we have today. It was necessary, in consultation with many representatives of the private sector, both for the new realities and the new demands coming from consumers, to give more guarantees for quality services. This finds more guarantee in the amendments we have given to the law, on the demands to reflect some realities of the accommodation structures which were not in the existing law. This on one hand better reflects the rules of the game, but on the other hand, is a necessary mechanism for the formalization of the tourism market,” emphasized Minister Kumbaro.
On the other hand, Minister Kumbaro also mentioned the new changes that support the private sector, such as the easing of bureaucratic procedures in relation to MTM or dependent institutions, which goes hand in hand with increased control for fair competition and transparency in relation to tax authorities.
Kumbaro also mentioned some initiatives that give importance to dedicated statistics as a significant organism to have accurate data. “It has been discussed in consultation tables and is proceeding parallelly with two legislative and administrative initiatives such as the National Strategy for Tourism Development 2024-2030, which started last year and will be completed within this year, as well as the joint project with the Albanian Development Fund for the construction of the SAT Statistics instrument for forecasting and organizing policy-making in Tourism.”
In the context of measures for the formalization of the private sector, the Minister of Economy and Finance, Ervin Mete, stated that the development of tourism requires attention from the fiscal approach so that this sector can contribute directly to taxation.
“In the law proposed today, a provision is envisaged, where the Council of Ministers will have an interactive approach with the sector for the drafting of a reference methodology for the utilization of accommodation spaces. The Ministry will publish a report in relation to individuals who provide rental platforms, in order to meet their fiscal obligations, but also to have a more cooperative approach,” stated Minister Mete.
