THE TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY IN CROATIA 133 3.2. Temporary Measures in the Tourist Sector The Ministry of Tourism and the Croatian Government have introduced special measures for the tourist sector, in order to ease the financial impact of the pandemic and alleviate its survival throughout the business year, touristic or otherwise. The most important thing is to ensure the retention of jobs and the liquidity of companies and entities in the sector so that they can resume their work as soon as possible following the crisis. The measures include postponement of payment of the tourist tax for private renters, the abolishment of a half or the full amount of the annual lump sum of the tourist tax, for those who provide tourist and hospitality services in their households and farms, the postponement of payment of flat-rate income tax, the postponement of the concession fees on the tourist land co-owned by the Republic of Croatia, the postponement of membership fees for Croatian National Tourist Board and the moratorium (reprogramming) on loan payments. The duration of the “permanent season” measure is also extended so that seasonal workers receiving off-season benefits do not lose their jobs (the measure includes about five thousand permanent seasonal workers in tourism and agriculture)10. In the preparation of the new measures, the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) will be responsible for tourist boards and include them into the group of eligible legal entities for financing under the Risk Sharing Model, together with commercial banks, as well as for the potential direct funding. The HBOR will also enable the monitoring of legal entities under the programme called “Sustainable Current Assets” carried out by commercial banks. The Amendments to the Tourist Boards Act and Promotion of Croatian Tourism made higher financial borrowing possible by tourist boards when special circumstances occur. Previously prepared projects (Croatian Tourist Card-CRO Card, an activity known as “A Week Off Is Worth It”) for the promotion of domestic travel were remodelled in order to help the sector’s recovery once the pandemic is over. This remodelling aims at stimulating the domestic tourist consumption and encourage the domestic travel after the normal tourist flows are restored. 10 See further, Ministry of Tourism, Information about coronavirus important for tourism sector, https://mint.gov.hr/root/hr/aktualno/izdvojeno/informacije-o-koronavirusu-vezane-uz-turistickisektor/20947.
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