There are already at least 25 micro-enterprises in the Algarve receiving money from the treasury support line created by Turismo de Portugal, thanks largely to the help given by the Algarve Tourism Region (RTA), which has been helping entrepreneurs to access this programme.
On March 18, RTA and the Algarve Tourism Association (ATA) activated a bilingual campaign to publicize and clarify the support measures of the Government and Tourism of Portugal with companies in the Algarve tourism sector, with o claim "Yesterday, like today, we are here to help!".
This Wednesday, João Fernandes revealed to the Sul Informação be very satisfied with the numbers that were achieved, in about three weeks of campaign.
«Until yesterday, Tuesday, we had more than 600 contacts via telephone and email. We are talking about a short period of time and a team of four people. It has been a good result for additional effort. It's very comforting to see that all the effort we've made, and from which the Sul Informação it was also a partner, it reached many people», stated the president of RTA and ATA.
In practice, this resulted in the submission of 320 applications by micro-enterprises in the Algarve, «resulting from these contacts, of which 77 have already been approved».
Of the applications that have already received the green light, which «represent 305 jobs, 30 contracts were already signed on the 6th of April and 25 of them are already being paid. Today they should be even more».
In this case, these are candidates for the treasury support line created by Turismo de Portugal with micro-enterprises in mind, that is, entities with fewer than nine employees. Because, explained João Fernandes, these small businesses have access to a specific line, with very attractive conditions.
“The microenterprise line is much more advantageous than the others: it has no interest and is specifically designed for this type of company. It allocates 750 euros per month per worker, up to a maximum period of three months. It can go up to 20 thousand euros in support», explained João Fernandes.
On the other hand, 'has a one-year grace period and a three-year repayment period. In other words, for a year, as there is no interest, nothing is paid».
The businesses in question are in the area of restaurants, tourist entertainment companies, small accommodation and travel agencies. «These are the groups that best fit this line of micro-enterprises».
Initially, this line as a whole had an allocation of 60 million euros. «The information we have is that it will probably be reinforced, because the adhesion has been very expressive at the national level, not only here in the Algarve».
The rules of this helpline explain the rapid approval of applications – 77 in about three weeks – and the swift availability of funds.
“A large part of the requirements for the eligibility of applications are only subject to the declaration of the applicant. In other words, it is the candidate who attests that he meets the necessary conditions. The exception is the declarations of non-debt to Social Security, Finances and Turismo de Portugal, which are easily verifiable, including online», he revealed.
The relevance of the RTA campaign for micro-enterprises is very clear in the numbers obtained. «94% of the contacts we received, to obtain information about the help lines and legal issues related to fiscal and contributory flexibility, were from micro-enterprises. The other 6% were from Small and Medium Enterprises», advanced to the Sul Informação Joao Fernandes.
«There is a distribution for all the Algarve's municipalities. The most expressive is Loulé, with 24% of requests for information. follow Faro, Lagos, Albufeira and Portimão, each with percentages between 11% and 14%», said the president of RTA and ATA.
«This means that the campaign we developed allowed us to reach the entire Algarve and had expression in all the municipalities in the region». At the same time, it allowed reaching mostly those who are also more representative in terms of supply, which are micro-enterprises», he reinforced.
In this way, RTA and ATA have directed their efforts to help these “small big entrepreneurs. We tell you which lines are available, people explain their doubts and problems to us, we help them choose the best solution and even guide them through the application process. Sometimes there are two or three contacts, to help entrepreneurs to prepare this application and insert it in the platform that is available».
“Entrepreneurs don't have to be candidacy professionals. Their business is what we want them to do. Therefore, a help, in the true sense of the word, is to accompany them throughout this process, it is not just to inform them that these lines exist».
Once the information has been disseminated, “it is necessary to decode it for those who are not experts in these matters”. And this has been a task of the RTA Entrepreneur Support Office and its four technicians, more precisely Elisabete Máximo, André Padinha, Fátima Catarina (vice-president of RTA) and Hugo Mendes, whose faces the public entity responsible for tourism in the Algarve he made a point of publicizing it on his Facebook page.
These technicians are there to help micro-enterprises, but also for SMEs, even though they have not resorted to much help from Algarve Tourism.
This is due to the nature of the support that SMEs can access, which involve the bank – unlike the line oriented towards micro-enterprises, managed directly by Turismo de Portugal -, but also because, as a rule, they have «more robust accounting» and more technical knowledge.
“For SMEs there are several lines of credit, also accessible to micro-enterprises, which involve banking. We have credit lines for the catering sector and similar, for travel agencies, tourist entertainment and event organization and for tourism companies, which includes local accommodation and tourist developments», said the president of RTA and of ATA
“They are not so advantageous, nor so fast. They have interest, even if controlled and guaranteed. Now, we are not talking about the same amounts. For micro-enterprises, the maximum amount is 20 thousand euros. In the others, it is much superior», concluded João Fernandes.
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