Press release, 16 October 2013
Mrs Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas, met with Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), on 16 October 2013.
Taleb Rifai noted that Lithuania was a unique and attractive country however tourists did not find it easy to reach Lithuania, therefore measures need be taken to correct the situation. The Speaker’s guest believes that Lithuania has taken the right decision to reduce its VAT on accommodation services and hopes that Lithuanian politicians could do more for the tourism sector by setting up an appropriate taxation framework.
The Speaker of the Seimas is of the opinion that reaching Lithuania by air continues to be a problem. About two million tourists visited Lithuania last year while with the help of convenient flights the number of tourists can be increased, which would reflect positively on Lithuanian business and budget.
The Speaker of the Seimas says that Lithuania understands why the UNTWO aims at working with the EU in facilitating entrance of third country citizens into the Schengen area and thinks that more active movement of tourists would be beneficial to the EU Member States.
Secretariat of the Speaker of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 239 6002
