Argentina Government decided to launch the fourth edition of the Assistance Program for Tourist Providers

With the end of the summer season approaching and the coronavirus pandemic that continues to affect Argentina and much of the world, the Government decided to launch the fourth edition of the Assistance Program for Tourist Providers (APTUR IV), which provides for an economic aid of 30 thousand pesos for some companies in the sector.

Specifically, the measure is aimed at workers who carry out small enterprises linked to complementary tourism activities, such as guides, instructors, those who offer excursion services and owners of one-person agencies.

By means of the Resolution 59/2021, published this Monday in the Official bulletin and signed by the Minister of Tourism and Sports, Matias Lammens, it was established that now people interested in receiving this assistance from the State will have “A period of 5 calendar days” counted from Tuesday, to present the corresponding applications.

Once that period is fulfilled, the Strategic Development Secretariat, which depends on the portfolio led by Lammens, will evaluate all submissions and select the ultimate beneficiaries of the plan.

However, the body also may extend the call, open new registrations and dictate the complementary rules that are necessary for the implementation of the plan.

It will do all this by following a series of guidelines that were set by a regulation which was prepared for the occasion, differs in some respects from those that were written in the past and was also published this Monday.

Among other aspects, it was specified that the aid in this opportunity will be a non-refundable contribution of 30 thousand pesos for each provider, a sum slightly lower than what was awarded in previous editions of this program.

In addition, it was clarified that will be excluded of this benefit people who are in a dependency relationship under any modality, both in the public and private sectors; have one or more employees in a dependent relationship at your expense; owe consideration for any type of assistance they have received from this Ministry, or that have pending accounts of surrender.

Regarding the requirements, it was reported that the interested party must complete a form with their data on the page argentina.gob.ar/turismoydeportes/aptur, pass training courses that are dictated virtually and be monotributistas or self-employed workers.

The tourism sector was one of the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

In the recitals, the Government pointed out that the coronavirus pandemic “immediately and acutely affected the entire tourism sector, but particularly and more harshly those who carry out small businesses linked to the sector.”

Therefore, he remembered that On June 16, APTUR was launched for the first time, from which a call was made that could reach more than 3,500 applicants. Later, the Ministry of Tourism released two other editions of the same program that reached nearly two thousand beneficiaries.

In the first moment, The Executive Power was going to allocate 100 million pesos to workers in complementary tourist activities. Indeed, Each provider was granted a non-refundable contribution of 50 thousand pesos to be paid in two installments.

In July, the Ministry of Tourism announced that it doubled the number of beneficiaries from the first two thousand registered to almost four thousand, so it was decided that the relief fund is finally 200 million pesos.

With the APTUR III, the amount of assistance for each applicant became 40 thousand pesos. This sum was received by various workers in the sector, such as guides, instructors, small excursions and one-man agencies.

Now, the national authorities remarked that, taking into account “the great demand” that this plan had since its creation, it is necessary “to continue to help people who provide tourist services whose sources of income have been affected by the public emergency in health matters.”

In this way, it was decided to advance “With a new program called APTUR IV that incorporates some modifications gleaned from the experience gained ”in the implementation of its predecessors.