The Spanish Government has taken action to help prevent decline in the countries tourism industry. The Government has promised airlines who manage to increase numbers in the first half of the year tax incentives in the second half of the year as a reward.
The PM of Spain Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said the move was necessary to offer a helping hand to the countries tourism sector. Within the first six months of 2009 airlines must show an increase on numbers in the last six months of 2008 to qualify for the tax incentive. A tax cut of one hundred percent has been promised.
It is expected that airlines will then pass on the cuts to customers in an effort to boost business. Twenty million is expected to be spent by the Spanish Airport Authority on the project.
Not everyone has been in favour of the move with four airline groups issuing a statement saying the project was “confusing” and would not have a good impact on the industry.
Tourism in Spain employs over eleven percent of the population. Figure for the first quarter of 2009 show a drop of over sixteen percent on the previous year.