November 6 (SeeNews) - Croatia's tourism ministry will propose to the government to increase the foreign workers quota in tourism to 30,000 permits next year, to be used until new legislation on foreigners is passed, the ministry said.
"The new Law on Foreigners provides for suspension of the quotas, i.e. the 'import' of workers, but since the law is yet to be adopted in March 2020, we will propose to the government to tackle the quotas 'the old way' until then", tourism minister Gari Cappelli said in a statement on Tuesday.
Cappelli also estimated that Croatia's tourism industry will need job permits for some 35,000 foreign workers following the new investments made in the sector. This year, the tourism sector used 21,000 permits for foreign workers.
Tourism is a key driver for the Adriatic state's economy, contributing some 20% of GDP.
In December, the government raised to 15,611 from 8,930 the allowed work permits for foreigners willing to work in Croatia's tourism sector in 2019.