The loans must be used to finance investments to improve tourist accommodation, with a special impact on actions aimed at good water management, such as reducing consumption or efficient reuse. The ICF will contribute the total amount of the loans (40 million euros) and the General Directorate of Tourism of the Department of Business and Labor will allocate 5.6 million euros to the bonus of the financial cost. Hotel establishments, tourist apartments, campsites and rural tourism establishments based in Catalonia can benefit from it.
La Direcció General de Turisme del Departament d’Empresa i Treball i l’ICF han tornat a posar en marxa una línia de préstecs per finançar projectes de millora i modernització d’establiments turístics.
L’ICF destina 40 milions d’euros a aquesta línia de préstecs i la Direcció General de Turisme aporta 5,6 milions d’euros a un fons que servirà per bonificar el 2% del tipus d’interès. Els recursos per bonificar els interessos provenen de la recaptació de l’Impost sobre les estades en establiments turístics.
The aim of this line of financing (ICF Tourism) is to facilitate hotels, tourist establishments, campsites and rural tourism establishments to carry out works and renovations in terms of accessibility, expansion of facilities, energy efficiency improvements and especially , actions aimed at water management.
The general director of Tourism, Marta Domènech i Tomàs, explained that "we know that the tourism sector has been doing a good job in water management for some time, but now we need to go one step further. In addition to making customers aware, it is necessary to make an effort to increase, even more, the application of water reduction and reuse measures".
The Government is asking for maximum commitment from all sectors, including tourism. And, in this sense, Domènech has assured that "we want to continue accompanying our companies to accelerate these changes in terms of reducing water consumption".
For her part, Vanessa Servera, CEO of the ICF, points out that "as a public bank for promotion, from the ICF we are committed to sustainable development and focus on financing projects that generate added value and that they bet on sustainability.”
The actions financed in the field of water management must include measures to reduce consumption, guarantee future supply, and improve the efficiency of water management, control and treatment processes while implementing strategies of reduction, recirculation and reuse of water. Among others, the measures may include the installation of flow regulators, timed taps and waterproof linings, and the commissioning of rainwater harvesting systems and reuse circuits with chlorine treatment for swimming pools and ornamental lakes.
Among other requirements, the establishments that wish to opt in must be registered in the Catalan Tourism Register, have their operational headquarters in Catalonia and be at least 2 years old.
The amount of the loans will range between €60,000 and €4 million, with the possibility of financing 100% of eligible actions. Regarding the term, applicants can request the loan for a maximum of 10 years with the possibility of a grace period of up to 2 years.