10 million euros from PNRR for Destination Management Organizations

„We have managed to start financing Destination Management Organizations (DMOs), via funds through PNRR. A budget of 10 million euros will be made available to DMOs in the country, with a clear purpose: to be able to operate efficiently and to the advantage of promoting the tourist destination,” the message published on Facebook on Wednesday shows.

He also announced that the program guide is available for public consultation on the ministry’s website.

Irineu Darău emphasized that OMDs must become “the engines of local tourism” and pointed out that the funds allocated to OMDs were directed towards the main tourism infrastructure projects, while the actual functioning of the organizations was underfunded.

„Now, in the partnership (for this funding) between a destination management organization and an administrative-territorial unit, a minimum of 20% of the funding is dedicated to the organization’s operation.

The official specified that the funding scheme takes into account the differences between localities, being designed in such a way as to offer opportunities to small communities that do not have a considerable budget for promotion.

He also announced that administrative procedures have been simplified, so that a single funding application can include multiple investments, in order to reduce bureaucracy.

„Tourism is developing as a destination for people who constantly work to promote a destination, and their management organizations have exactly this role: to build a direction, put a destination on the map and coordinate promotion and services for tourism,” Darău concluded.