Luís Araújo, president of Turismo de Portugal, defended this Friday, May 5, in Brussels, more direct funding for the tourism sector, stressing that it represents 20 million jobs in Europe, in addition to the «dragging effect » in other activities.
Speaking at a round table during the European Tourism Day, an event that was once again celebrated in Brussels for the first time in the last five years, Luís Araújo, in his capacity as president of Turismo de Portugal and of the European Travel Commission (ETC) – which represents 33 national tourism organizations in Europe -, welcomed the initiatives that have been carried out at community level, but argued that it is necessary to take "one more step".
«We have to be more active. We need direct funding because we represent 20 million jobs. I think we should say it every day, it's like a mantra: we represent 20 million jobs in Europe», he said, recalling that many other sectors also benefit from tourism, given its «drag effect».
«To give you an idea», Luís Araújo gave «an example from Portugal», pointing out that «wine exports to the United States and Brazil are in perfect correlation with the growth of tourists from these countries to Portugal».
«I am sure that first they visit, and then they buy the wine, believe me», he stressed.
Pointing out that the tourism sector was hit hard during the Covid-19 pandemic, the president of Turismo de Portugal and ETC considered that «the platform that was launched with all the funding that is available through so many instruments throughout Europe is wonderful, but we need to go one step further».
«And that additional step is to have specific funding for tourism, specific promotion for tourism, promote intra-European tourism, promote Europe's values through collaboration, and I think now the essential word is cooperation, between countries. I'm proud to be a part of ETC, which is doing just that. But we still have to do more», he argued.
According to Luís Araújo, everyone agrees that tourism has to be «more sustainable», working collectively, as it is not up to tourists «to change the way tourism is done».
«We have to change the attitude of the entire value chain, from supply to demand», he defended.
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