Minister of Tourism, Ibrahim Faisal has revealed ongoing efforts to offer concessions on tax and land rent in a bid to attract investors to regions in the country with lower demand for tourism.
Speaking to PSM News, Faisal said the biggest challenge in expanding tourism to more remote areas of the country is the less favourable return on investments.
The Minister noted that the rate of taxes and land rent are common to all parts of the country regardless of demand or return on investment under the present tourism laws and regulations.
Because of that, investors are reluctant to invest in regions with less favourable return on their investments as its more costly to transport tourists, he added.
According to Faisal, it takes USD45 million on average to develop a resort with a relatively short return on investment in seven to eight years in the more lucrative parts of the country. However, in the more remote areas, the return on investment period is much longer, he explained.
So, the most important step to take tourism to the remote regions is to establish better connectivity across the country and to offer concessions on land rent and taxes from such areas, Minister Faisal said.
He revealed that efforts are underway to amend the relevant tourism laws and regulations to offer such concessions to potential investors.
"We are currently devising a policy to take investments to areas with lower demand for tourism by offering concessions on taxes and rent from facilities there. We will submit the papers to the Cabinet very soon,” Minister Faisal said.
The Minister also bemoaned the lack of effort by successive governments to expand tourism to furthest corners of the island nation, especially the North and South which currently have few tourism facilities.
In addition to the concessions to investors, the Minister said the government is planning to connect these areas with international flights, on top of seeking investors through the various investment forums hosted by the government.