Secretary of State foresees «very positive» tourist year in the Algarve

Nuno Fazenda, Secretary of State for Tourism, Commerce and Services, is confident that this year will be «very positive» for tourism in the Algarve. 

This Wednesday, February 15, the official participated in the conference “Tourism in the Algarve and in the interior Algarve” which took place at the Manuel Viegas Guerreiro Foundation, in Querença (Loulé).

Speaking to journalists, Nuno Fazenda commented on recent tourism data.

O January was one of the best ever in the Algarve, in terms of occupancy rate (36,9%), which even surprised entities such as AHETA (Association of Hotels and Tourist Enterprises of the Algarve).

For the Secretary of State, this good start to the year is a good omen for what is to come.

«There are very positive and reliable perspectives for this year. What I feel, in the contact work on the ground, in tourism fairs and in meetings with businessmen, is that there is confidence for us to have a very positive year», said Nuno Fazenda.

The official even revealed to have "confidence" that this 2023 will have good results in the region.

«We just have to bear in mind that we are going to have, according to the Bank of Portugal, an increase in exports of 8,6%», he reinforced.

The minister's perspectives are also in line with what João Fernandes, president of the Algarve Tourism Region, said a few days ago, who argues that the good numbers in January show how «we are resuming the process of mitigating seasonality and recovering some foreign markets that took some time to come back».

In this conference, one of the themes addressed, raised by Vítor Aleixo, mayor of Loulé, was the low wages of workers in the tourism sector.

Questioned by journalists, the Secretary of State recognized that «there is the challenge of increasing wages in Portugal and in tourism».

«The truth is that, between 2015 and 2022, we increased the value of the national minimum wage by around 50% and average salaries increased by 29%, but we have to continue to grow in salaries because this also allows us to retain talent and human resources for work in tourism», he concluded.