The budget of 30 million for tourism in the Algarve, announced yesterday by the Government, is «a stimulus so that the region does not fall asleep», warned the President of the Republic, in the closing session of the World Tourism Day conference held in Albufeira.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was one of the afternoon's speakers, with the task of closing the proceedings.
In his speech, the President of the Republic took the opportunity to comment on the support package for companies in the tourism sector, announced by the Minister of Economy also at the same conference, and which includes a specific line for the Algarve.
After speaking about a certain moment of uncertainty that the Portuguese economy and tourism are experiencing, due to financial issues but also the war in Ukraine, the President focused his speech on the case of the Algarve.
For Marcelo, the region was a kind of «laboratory, at this crossroads that we are experiencing». And what crossroads is the President talking about? The “finesse” that needs to be observed “between the “qualification of tourism and pricing policies”.
«It's an adjustment they have to make», considered Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, especially due to «national tourism» which, last summer, fell in the Algarve due to «uncertainty about the war and international economic developments».
«Domestic tourism does not have the dimension of external tourism, but it is important, at certain times as a fundamental complement, and even as an effect on territorial and social cohesion», he said.
With his eyes on the audience, with many hoteliers and officials linked to the world of tourism, the President confessed that he was “certain that they are aware that, when they want to qualify tourism in certain areas, they also think twice about guaranteeing tourism of external origin and in pricing policies that are affordable for the situation of our fellow citizens».
Therefore, the package announced by the Government was very well received by Marcelo.
«Having specific funds for the Algarve is a stimulus so that the region does not fall asleep or is not led to make mistakes regarding some transitional options in this transition that is being experienced between cycles», said the President.
Because, he considered, we are living in a “very sensitive moment in Portuguese life and economy”.
«It is not just the approach of the end of a cycle of two presidential terms, with the subsequent approach of the cycle of this legislature, coinciding with the fundamental role of the use of funds and PRR; There is a moment here that coincides with the war that has not ended and the international crisis that is not over and that is one of those moments in the economy in which there are several possible scenarios», he warned.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also took the opportunity to talk about the importance of sustainability, something that had already been highlighted by Francisco Calheiros, president of the Portuguese Tourism Confederation, in the opening session.
«Sustainability is a priority. Often between crises, tourism has to adapt to the transitions, true revolutions, that sustainability implies. They will say: it's easy for large groups. It's easier and more difficult for medium-sized, small and isolated units», he considered.
But the truth, concludes the President by way of praise, is that tourism has not failed, over the years, showing «great adaptability».
«It did not fail in the ability to respond by businesspeople and workers and it did not fail in terms of its ability to respond quickly in difficult moments of Portuguese life», he reiterated.
Photos: Pedro Lemos | Sul Informação
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