Moldovans to benefit from holiday vouchers
Citizens of the Republic of Moldova could benefit from holiday vouchers. Several discussions have already taken place between officials from Chisinau and Romania which aim to develop the tourism between the two countries.
"The holiday voucher initiative is actually a project that we want to implement in the Republic of Moldova. I had discussions including with colleagues from Romania that this tourist voucher would be applicable both in the Republic of Moldova and in Romania", said the State Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Andrei Chistol, requested by the "Teleradio-Moldova" Company. The State Secretary emphasized the importance of establishing this program, stating that the basic goal is the development of tourism in the Republic of Moldova.
"From European and world practice it has been very clearly established that once we establish these holiday vouchers we have an additional possibility to capitalize and to develop domestic tourism in the Republic of Moldova, to make the tourist destinations in the Republic of Moldova better known and, of course, to make better use of destinations. Of course, we think a lot about which types of destinations or tourist objectives we will include in this holiday voucher: which tourist destinations are more popular or those which are perhaps less popular".
According to the Secretary of State, for now it is being discussed which target groups will benefit from this opportunity.
"We need to boost a greater valorization of different types of categories of people, starting from children in schools, students in universities and those who work in the public or private sector. But what we really want is that through these holiday vouchers, as they are also used in other countries, to stimulate, consolidate and further develop domestic tourism. We are also discussing with colleagues from Romania, and I hope that in the future we will continue this discussion, so that the voucher from the Republic of Moldova is also applicable in Romania, and the one from Romania - is applicable in the Republic of Moldova", said Andrei Chistol. Holiday vouchers can be used to purchase tourist services, such as: accommodation, transport, meals, leisure activities, etc. Andrei Chistol mentioned that a draft law in this regard is to be proposed to the Government and the Parliament.
In the first half of the current year, the number of foreign citizens who visited the Republic of Moldova increased by over 55 percent compared to January-June 2023, 25.6 thousand visitors. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the majority of tourists (95.1%) were day trippers, who arrived in our country for rest, recreation and leisure.
The most visitors were from Romania (58.3%) and Italy (23.8%). Also, during the mentioned period, the average length of stay of foreign tourists in the country also increased - up to four days. For comparison, in January - June 2023 this duration was 3.1 days.
