You won't be finding budget accommodations in Palau if you want to visit the country as President Tommy Remengesau has eyes for a new law that allows only the building of five-star hotels on the islands.
According to Marianas Variety, Remengesau said, "Part of the law is to approve only five-star hotel development in Palau." He also explained that a five-star also means that hotel developments that invest here will be asked to contribute to their own sewage, own power generation, provide their own water source and to share those infrastructure investments with the community and Palau, in return, will provide a tax break.
"Since they invested in infrastructure then we will offer a tax break so it's kind of a win-win situation for Palau and the investor," Remengesau stated.
The president would wish to see that Palau would rather focus on quality rather than quantity when serving tourists. This came out after concerns of the effects of having a mass tourism on the island.
So, for a small island, Remengesau said that the tourism sector should plan carefully for Palau. "There's a right way to do things and there's a wrong way to do things."
"Development coming to Palau can be over the ocean, in the mangrove, crested on the hill, but if you do it right, it will not impact in the environment," he started. "We have seen it in the Maldives, Mexico, and others that the best spots around the world have blended in with the environment," Remengesau continued.
The Asian Development Bank has forecasted Palau's growth by two percent last year and five percent this 2017. While the island would love an influx of visitors, however, their resources are limited and cannot handle the growth.
The islanders worry that the growth in tourist arrivals will damage the environment. "Do we want to control growth or do we want growth to control us?" Remengesau posed the question.
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