The Portuguese Hotel Association (AHP) called for the suspension of tolls on Via do Infante, while the works on the EN125 last. The biggest national hotel association also asked, in a public position, that "a broad debate on the system of toll collection in the interior" be launched.
«The collection of tolls on the A22/Via do Infante is incomprehensible when the alternative to this road is not working at 100%, strongly affecting the distribution of traffic throughout the region. Until the works of the EN 125 are completed – and the Government is responsible for pressing for this to happen – the collection of tolls on the A22 should be suspended or, at the very least, the increase should not come into force», defended João Soares, AHP representative in the Algarve .
In addition to this temporary measure, and focused on the Algarve, hoteliers consider “important to change the model for operating tolls in the ex-SCUT”.
“Tolls have a direct impact on tourists' leisure trips and vacations, make it difficult to attract and retain them and burden the operation of tourist agents. This is in addition to increasing the economic costs of distributing products and goods. It is even more serious when around 30% of toll revenues are to support the costs of the current operating model (the gantries)», defended Luís Veiga, AHP representative in the Center region.
"When the Government launches a program of 164 measures to combat desertification in the interior and the issue of tolls is not even considered, there is something missing in the whole program", he added.
For AHP, tolls and the way they are collected in the Algarve and inland regions are "barriers", which "contribute strongly to the current imbalance between regions and detract from the attractiveness of tourism investment in the interior".
Comments