The Department of Tourism and Leisure is pleased to announce that Tynwald has approved a new Visitor Facility Improvement Scheme, which will come into force on 1st August 2009 as part of a strategic investment.

The Scheme is aimed at providing support for projects in visitor accommodation or visitor facilities whilst at the same time improving the quality of the visitor experience, in order to attract new people and increase expenditure in the Isle of Man.

Martyn Quayle MHK, Minister for Tourism and Leisure, commented ‘The objective has been to encourage the Industry to come forward with new proposals for development and in doing so, the Department of Tourism and Leisure has responded to the legitimate concerns of the Industry regarding the previous scheme.  

'I am pleased to report that there have been some significant changes to the regulations to enable the approval process to be speeded up and reduce the amount of paperwork for small/medium enterprises.

‘There is no longer a requirement for a non refundable payment to be made to process an application and grants, for schemes under ?25,000, will expire after five years instead of fifteen years as in the previous grant schemes. 

'The maximum percentage grant will rise from 25% to 40%, however, the maximum payable will remain at ?1million. 

'Applications for anyone wishing to make improvements to their premises has decreased to ?5000 and appropriate schemes may also be accepted from other government departments, local authorities and other public bodies.’

The Department of Tourism and Leisure looks forward to receiving applications from tourism related businesses that require funding to enable them to improve on an existing product or any new business initiatives which could be of benefit to the Island and our local economy.