“Tourism generates wealth and creates jobs like no other activity” – Francisco Calheiros
The President of the Tourism Confederation of Portugal (CTP) said on Tuesday in Albufeira that the current political situation was not “positive for the country” and called for stable governance and stability.
“The CTP hopes that the political situation will be sorted out as quickly as possible. This is not positive for the country nor for companies,” said Francisco Calheiros.
Addressing the conference ‘Algarve Tourism: Surmounting Challenges; Building Tomorrow’, which marked the 55th anniversary of the Algarve Tourism Board (RTA), the CTP president said that Portugal was living through “challenging and uncertain times”.
“We’re going through a new period of political instability and, right now, the key word is ‘uncertainty’,” he said.
The tourism boss added that “this phase of national instability combined with the uncertainties on the international scene” provided a challenging time for all, and in particular for the tourism sector.
For Francisco Calheiros, the country “needs stability in political terms and stable governance so that ongoing projects and investments that are directly and indirectly related to tourism activity are not blocked”.
“This is the case with the privatization of TAP, the new airport or the implementation of projects under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP),” he pointed out.
At the same time, he said that, whoever wins the snap election (on May 18), the CTP will continue to call for the urgent reform of the State, a new airport, the high-speed rail link (TGV), a modern railway network and more efficient territorial management.
According to Calheiros, the lack of labour, and a need to beef up investment in training and pay better wages, would also be priorities in the sector, since “these issues needed to be resolved in order to continue to create wealth and jobs”.
“Tourism brings value to the country, generates wealth and creates jobs like no other activity, bringing a very significant impact on the economy by stimulating other sectors, ensuring an important source of tax revenue and taking the Portugal brand further,” he concluded.
Source: Essential Business
