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President Iván Duque surprised with a new announcement amid the peak of Covid-19 in the country. “I want to make it clear to Colombians that we will be advancing, in these first two months of the year, new ‘Gran Finde’ thinking about the Easter season, also, in the season of what is known as the week of school recess and the one that we will have in July, in such a way that this year will be a year of safe reactivation of tourism ”, he said.
The announcement was made at the end of a meeting with the tourism sector in Cartagena, where he stressed that this meeting showed “that as a Government we remain hopeful in the safe reactivation” and that “This has to be the year of safe reactivation.”
In this context, the head of state recalled that on December 31 he sanctioned the Tourism Law, which aims to strengthen the sustainability, formalization and competitiveness of the sector and promote the reactivation of tourism, to consolidate the country as a highly recognized, sustainable, responsible and high quality destination.
Among the transitory tax measures of the Law that will be of great help is the reduction of VAT in air tickets that will go from 19% to 5% until December 31, 2022; temporary suspension of the payment of the energy surcharge for tourism service providers in the hotel, accommodation, events and parks subsectors; the temporary reduction of the consumption tax to 0% and the VAT exemption for hotel and tourism services until December 31, 2021.
The payment of the penalty for the reactivation of the National Tourism Registry (RNT) is also eliminated until March 2021.
In addition to the above, the new Tourism Law brings tools for attracting investment in the sector by expanding the special rate of 9% of income tax for the construction of new hotels, new theme parks and remodeling of these, in the same way the construction time was extended from 4 to 6 years.
In addition, this benefit included the services provided in new assistance centers for the elderly tourist.
The new Law 2068 of 2020 brings new support tools for San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina such as the allocation of the US $ 15 that is paid from the national tourism tax, US $ 0.5 to invest in the competitiveness, promotion and infrastructure of the department of San Andrés and another US $ 0.5 directly for the reconstruction of Providencia and Santa Catalina, during the 2021 period .
“With this, there is a light and an incentive for a sector that has been badly hit “, he stressed.
On other issues, through this new Tourism Law, barriers of all kinds are eliminated for the enjoyment of tourist activities by establishing the principle of Universal Accessibility; the Ministry of Commerce is linked to the Global Initiative for Tourism and Plastics, and climate change mitigation and adaptation measures are adopted aimed at minimizing the carbon footprint.
Likewise, topics such as income discounts for investments made in control, conservation and improvement of the environment and special measures to counteract maritime erosion in municipalities that have a coastal or beach area; the safety of tourists through the existence of rescue personnel or lifeguards on tourist beaches and the expansion of training opportunities as tourism guides to the communities and inhabitants of the different territories of the country, through the recognition of their knowledge .
Likewise, this law will contribute to peace, reconciliation and national unity through the promotion of tourism for memory in destinations of interest according to local, regional and national initiatives.
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