The shortcomings in the legislation on tourism represent one of the main factors hindering Moldova from becoming an attractive tourist destination. Sevastian Botnari, chairman of the National Association of Travel Agencies (ANAT), told a news conference that the permissive legislation leads to an increase in the number of tourism companies. “Many companies provide services of an inappropriate quality and, as a result, there appear consumer distrust and instability on this segment of the market,” he said, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. According to ANAT, 250 travel agencies worked in 2001-2009, but now their number rose to 450. Sevastian Botnari said this is due to the legislation on tourism that allows all those who opened travel agencies to sell holiday packages the next day already and this is a very serious legislative shortcoming. “More experience is needed in order to practice tourism,” considers Sevastian Botnari. The National Bureau of Statistics’ data about the number of tourists represent another problem. According to Sevastian Botnari, they are lower than the real figures and do not encourage the potential tourists to come to Moldova. The information is inaccurate because the number of tourists is calculated only on the basis of the tour packages offered by companies, in accordance with the legislation. Thus, the official statistics do not cover the tourists who visit Moldova avoiding travel agencies. The ANAT chairman gave as example the year 2008, when the National Bureau of Statistics said the number of tourists was about 12,000, while the Border Guard Service reported 1.7 million crossings. “It is evident that we will never be able to develop the tourism industry in Moldova with such figures,” said Sevastian Botnari. He also said that a solution is to improve the normative framework, but the state institutions working in the field, especially the Tourism Agency, should involve themselves more actively. Three years ago, the state budget included about 20,000 lei intended for developing tourism. A sum of 3.5 million lei has been allocated so far, but the travel companies are still not encouraged to develop productive businesses. The National Association of Travel Agencies includes 80 travel agencies and 10 accommodation facilities.