More than 100 resorts request to extend lease period to 50 years

Tourism Ministry has said today that 109 resorts have requested to extend their lease periods.

An official from the Ministry said that the opportunity to request for an extension of the lease period, following the amendment of tourism regulations, was open until today. 25 resorts have made the full payment necessary for this extension, and extension will only be granted for resorts which have made the request before today.

“The opportunity comes to an end today. We have received 109 applications. We are now working on extending their lease periods,” the official said.

The official also said that the opportunity to apply for lease extension of uncompleted resorts remains open.

Prior to this, the fee for extension of the lease period had to be paid in full upfront. However the Tourism Ministry’s new decision according to the Civil Court order allows annual payment in installments.

The official said that under the previous regulation, US$ 40 million was received from 25 resorts as lease extension payments. They said that ‘this amount cannot be refunded due to the current economic situation’ and that ‘this money will be deducted from the rent payable to the government’.

The amendment to the tourism regulation states that lease periods have to be extended within 18 months of the regulation coming into force. About US$ 100,000 has to be paid per year in order to extend the lease period.