Monday, 4 March 2019

37th Sitting of the Committee on the Economy, Regional Development, Trade, Tourism and Energy

At the sitting held on 4 March 2019, the Committee on the Economy, Regional Development, Trade, Tourism and Energy considered the Bill on Hospitality Industry and the Bill on Tourism, in principle.


The bills were presented by Dr Miroslav Knezevic, State Secretary at the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, who said that both need to be passed in view of the new developments in the spheres of tourism and the hospitality industry which had yielded 1,317 million EUR. The bills also provide much needed harmonization with EU directives and the national legislation viz. Inspection Law and Law on General Administrative Procedure, as well as the National Tourism Development Strategy.

Speaking of the Bill on Hospitality Industry, Knezevic stressed that its chief purpose is to address grey economy and advance the business environment for individuals offering accommodation. Now they can do business without intermediaries and register their own guests, as well as pay a flat tax rate. The latter is especially important for cottage industries, said Knezevic. He added that the Bill also introduces electronic guest registers and creates the system of e-tourisms - a central information system to provide better coordination and generate the data needed for future tourist policies. The service will be free which is very important for village tourism, said Knezevic. He added that the penalties will also be more severe especially for unregistered entities.

The Bill on Tourism will provide better coordination of public and private sector entities and harmonize new promotions and planning, said Knezevic. It provides a wider scope of authority to declare touristic areas and protects customers’ rights by giving the tourist agencies additional ways to insure the travellers. The objective is to protect the tourists as well as the industry, said Knezevic. The Bill introduces new incentives – in addition to vouchers, tourists will be provided with subsidized interest rate loans, there will be incentives for energy efficiency and eco-standards, digitalization and innovation in the tourist and hospitality industry, and transportation network with markets important for Serbian tourism. This Bill also stipulates more severe penalties for unregistered entities.

Following a debate, the Committee members accepted both bills, in principle, by majority vote.

The Committee members went on to select Dr Aleksandra Tomic and Prof. Dr Vladimir Marinkovic to represent the Committee at the Regional Workshop for Members of Parliament from Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus, to be held in Vienna, 27 – 29 May.

The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairperson Snezana B. Petrovic and attended by the following Committee members and deputy members: Snezana R. Petrovic, Gorica Gajic, Studenka Kovacevic, Zoran Bojanic, Prof. Dr Vladimir Marinkovic, Dr Aleksandra Tomic, Tomislav Ljubenovic, Ana Carapic, Stanislava Janosevic, Snezana Paunovic and Jelena Mijatovic.


Committees related to this activity



Previous month Next month
M T W T F S S
26 27 28 29 1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
thursday, 28 march
  • 9.00 - consultations of representatives of the parliamentary groups about the election of deputy chairpersons of the National Assembly working bodies (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, hall 1)

  • 10.00 - visit of the students of Stevan Dukic Elementary School to the National Assembly House (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square)

  • 11.00 - visit of the students of Drinka Pavlovic Elementary School Student Parliament to the National Assembly House (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square)

  • 11.00 - press conference of the Green-Left Front – Don’t Let Belgrade D(r)оwn Parliamentary Group (National Assembly House 13, Nikola Pasic Square. Central Hall)

  • 13.00 - the National Assembly Speaker meets with the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Republic of Serbia (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, Speaker’s Cabinet)

Full event calendar