The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Employment announced changes to the sustainable development fees for dollar-paying tourists to boost the tourism sector.

It announced a 50 percent discount on the prevailing SDF of USD 200 for US dollar-paying tourists visiting the country. The effective SDF with the discount will be USD 100 per person per day.

Another change is the 50 percent discount on the SDF rates applied to children aged between 6 and 12 years for US dollar-paying children visiting as tourists.

“The 24-hour SDF waiver for tourists staying in the border towns will continue,” the ministry stated.

The above incentives will come into effect from September 1 2023.The ministry’s announcement stated that the government would conduct periodic assessments of the domestic and international tourism scenarios and may discontinue the above incentives to uphold and promote the High-Value Low Volume Tourism Policy.