State programs, private initiatives and measures aimed at supporting and developing the tourism business are presented at the Moldova Tourism Forum - 2021.
The two-day event was organized by the Investment Agency in cooperation with the Agency's strategic partners - USAID Moldova, Sweden and UKaid. The main topics of the forum were national and regional initiatives in the field of tourism, the development of the tourism industry in the context of a pandemic, government support for tourism, private initiatives, etc. The head of the Investment Agency Rodica Verbeniuc noted that the restrictions due to the pandemic, closed borders, the inability to travel and an unpredictable future have had a huge impact on local tourism. “The number of tourists visiting our country in 2020 decreased by 75% compared to the previous year. We have witnessed a wave of unprecedented despair among tourism and hospitality companies. We had to change our views, restructure business models, and rethink promotion tools. Our entrepreneurs were able to turn restrictions into new opportunities and are ready for further changes,” said Rodica Verbeniuc. During the conference, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Economy Mihail Lupascu, while speaking about the negative consequences of the pandemic for the economy, noted that the Ministry of Economy had developed proposals on economic measures and a short-term action plan to prepare the economy for possible crises. He also mentioned the development of a roadmap for the digitization of the economy and the development of e-commerce in order to adapt private business and government institutions to the new conditions after COVID-19. As for the tourism industry, a draft National Tourism Development Program "Tourism 2025" was elaborated, one of the goals of which is to recognize Moldova as a well-known player in the international tourism market by actively promoting the local tourism offer. Lupascu stressed that a feature of this document is the integration of tourism into national policy - the use of new technologies, data exchange to increase the potential and efficiency of tourism enterprises. He stressed the need to promote tourism in terms of local, natural, social and cultural resources and the well-being of local communities. This is especially important in less developed areas, ensuring ongoing collaboration between all members of the community. The event was attended by Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Zurab Pololikashvili, representative of the EU Commissioner for Transport and Tourism at the European Commission Mark Răzvan Marc, journalists, bloggers, specialists from tourism and related fields. // 28.05.2021 - InfoMarket.
