The tourist year of 2014 was «very positive» for the Algarve, and the region «contributed with 4,5 million euros to the national Gross Domestic Product». The Algarve region continues to be the one with the most weight, in the tourism sector, in Portugal, but it has not been compensated accordingly, defended this Wednesday the president of the Algarve Tourism Region.
Desidério Silva soon set the tone for the debate «Tourism in the Algarve: past, present and future», the “main course” of the ceremony to commemorate 45 years of RTA, which took place in Vale de Lobo, and put questions on the table which, he considers, may affect the future of the sector.
The head of Tourism in the Algarve took advantage of the presence of Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho and the Secretary of State for Tourism Adolfo Mesquita Nunes, to demand more investment from the Government in the region, proportional to the financial return it gives to the country.
This is an old demand of the RTA and a problem that, for Desidério Silva, starts right away with the decreasing bet on the institution he directs.
«In terms of promotions, we have seen the possibility of action expanded, which recently began to include Spain. We took up the concept of the expanded internal market, however, this was not reflected in a greater budget allocation», recalled Desidério Silva, who took the opportunity to remind that the Spanish market represents around 30 percent of official overnight stays in the region.
Looking at the sector itself, Desidério Silva asked for interventions in terms of contextual costs to which entrepreneurs in the sector are subject, namely in terms of taxation, and the carrying out of various works, such as the requalification of the EN 125, the railway and of the Commercial Ports of the Algarve.
The questions raised by Desidério Silva ended up not having a direct answer from Passos Coelho, but were addressed, along with others, in the debate that followed.
The initiative had as guests the entrepreneur André Jordan, the former Secretary of State for Tourism Vítor Neto, the president of Turismo de Portugal João Cotrim de Figueiredo and the director of the Airport of Faro António Correia Mendes. Moderating the conversation, which also included the large audience present (about 8 people), were the deputy director of Lusa Ricardo Jorge Pinto and the deputy director of Expresso Nicolau Santos.
The promotion of the Algarve in Portugal and abroad, the creation of more tourist attractions to combat seasonality (such as a strong calendar of events and a genuine cultural offer), the profitability of the asset that represents the airport of Faro for the region and the development of the residential market were in the center of attention of the speakers who expressed different points of view on the Algarve tourism.
From the assistance side, some difficult questions arose, namely for the representative of ANA Aeroportos António Correia Mendes. The issue of the controversial fee charged to rent-a-cars that do not have facilities inside airports is still very hot and social-democratic deputy Cristóvão Norte took the opportunity to confront António Correia Mendes with what he has been calling “abusive and predatory nature', on the part of the company that manages the Airport of Faro, infrastructure that was leased to the multinational Vinci more than a year ago.
The Algarve parliamentarian did not spare criticism of ANA and its option to impose this fee on small rent-a-car companies, many of them in the Algarve, and demanded answers from António Correia Mendes, but he ended up not getting them.
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