A one percent levy on turnover will be charged on all Tourist Board licensed institutions, under the new Finance Bill, passed Thursday.
The tax will cover about 1000 licensed institutions under the Tourist Board Development Act and will be enforceable from September this year.
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rnAn initial Rs. 7.5 mn is to be raised, Tourist Board officials say, with the funds being routed towards overseas marketing and promotions.
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rnldblquote At first we will be channelling the monies towards strengthening our presence in key markets like Europe, India and Japan, before extending this to new areas dblquote , an official said.rn
rnldblquote Our strategy is to consolidate our presence first in key markets but it is important that airline capacity can be increased to keep up with the take-off in arrivals dblquote .rn
rnA likely high of 500,000 tourists are expected this year, with earnings projected at US$ 340 mn for 2003.rn
rnAnalysts at DFCC Stockbrokers expect an annual growth rate of 20 percent