Applications for tourism EU funds exceed the budget by EUR 100 million

Applications for rural tourism EU funds exceed the budget by EUR 100 million

Newsroom 06/06/2012 | 13:17

The Payment Agency for Rural Development and Fishing (APDRP) has received 2,006 applications between April 17 and May 16 for rural tourism financing through the regional development program (PNDR) for Measure 313 (Encouragement of rural tourism). The projects amount to EUR 285.6 million, exceeding the available budget of EUR 186.5 million.

Out of the total number of applications, 1,317 projects request funding for accommodation facilities, 528 projects request funding for leisure facilities and the the remaining 161 projects are investments in information centers.

The present application session has brought several important changes related to profit generating investments, according to APDRP representatives. In the case of rural lodging houses, the share of nonrefundable funds can now reach 85 percent of the overall eligible costs whereas so far this couldn’t go beyond 70 percent. Also, the maximum amount of funding that can be received for a project has been raised from EUR 70,000 to EUR 100,000.

For investment projects in leisure facilities, the share of nonrefundable funds can now reach 85 from 50 percent previously, and the maximum amount of funding goes to EUR 200,000 per project.

Simona Bazavan