· Personality · 6 September 2022 · T. Filomena Abreu · P. Rights Reserved

Rita Marques

«Portugal is leading tourism’s recovery in Europe at this time»

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The Secretary of State for Tourism, Trade and Services is prepared for a fight. After two years of falling revenues, the sector has been resurrected, with needs to be addressed. Starting with the workforce. The government has a plan. Under a recently approved scheme, the vacancies may be filled by people from Portuguese-speaking countries. An entrepreneurial mission of salvation. But there are other challenges that the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have aggravated. An overloaded airport, the need for the sector to adapt as soon as possible to the values of sustainability and controversy involving public-private partnerships. Nothing that intimidates Rita Marques, who is confident in the creativity and resilience of tourism, which she says is an example for so many other economic sectors in the country.

«This is a highly creative and resilient sector, an example for so many other economic sectors»

The tourism sector is short of 50,000 workers. What can and is being done to fill this gap?
At this time of lively recovery in Portugal’s tourism sector, we will need 45,000 to 50,000 workers. One of the most important measures that the government has recently adopted is to favour a simplified regime for the attribution of visas, namely for citizens coming from the community of Portuguese speaking countries. Very soon we will go on mission to Cape Verde to test this model, recruiting these professionals and, after their arrival in Portugal, favouring, training measures that will allow us to continue to provide a service of excellence.

How can so many problems with airports over the last few months be justified?
These are constraints that affect the lives of all those who need to travel, whether they are tourists or not. It is an issue that has emerged in all major airports throughout the world, which is a result of the huge impact that the pandemic had on the aviation sector. I am confident that the situations will be resolved shortly through the use of tactical adjustments of action and consultation between the public entities and the private agents involved. It should be remembered that in Portugal a contingency plan for Portela airport has already been presented, which aims to overcome some of these challenges.

After two years of the pandemic, was it not to be expected that the sector would have the demands it is having? Were we not able to prepare?
Yes, we have prepared well enough, despite the context of uncertainty resulting from an armed conflict that nobody predicted, after a pandemic period that nobody predicted either. This is a very creative and resilient sector, an example for so many other economic sectors. The proof of this is that Portugal is leading the tourism recovery in Europe at this time. You see, on the one hand, we now have a lively and capable business fabric, after two years of absolute standstill – these results are absolutely extraordinary when everyone believed we would not make it. On the other hand, we have taken advantage of the period of inactivity to think about the future. It became clear that the sector’s recovery based on sustainability would not only allow for increased resilience in the face of future crises, but also the resumption of tourism activity with the commitment to do better and with greater security from an economic, social and environmental point of view. The Reactivate Tourism Plan and the + (read ‘more’) Sustainability in Tourism are good examples of the good homework we have done.

«We now have a lively and capable business fabric, after two years of absolute standstill»

What else has Portuguese tourism learnt from these last two years of the pandemic?
It has learned that public-private partnerships are here to stay. If there is one sector where there is constant dialogue between these two worlds, it is the tourism sector. In the pandemic, we all worked together, not just to survive, but to lead once travel restrictions were eased or removed. Today, the sector is again a fundamental driver of our economy.

What major measures are being taken to make Portuguese tourism more sustainable?
Already in 2017 the Tourism Strategy 2027 identified social, economic and environmental sustainability goals with a view to positioning Portugal as one of the most competitive and sustainable tourism destinations in the world. At that time, we defined lines of action based on funding and capacity building for companies to support the inclusion of sustainability criteria in their strategies and operations. As of today, and among the more than one hundred actions in progress, the Tourism Companies 360° Programme is one particular highlight. The goal of this programme is to accelerate the process of incorporating Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) indicators in organisations, challenging companies to actively rethink their environmental, social and governance practices. The focus is on the development of actions that include the training of tourism companies to incorporate ESG indicators in their management processes, the provision of monitoring tools, models of sustainability reports and the promotion of public recognition of the organisations. It is a pioneering programme worldwide.

What are the goals in terms of numbers for the next four years, especially for the country’s inland regions?The Reactivate Tourism plan establishes four pillars of action – supporting companies, promoting security, generating business and building the future – and is made up of specific actions that, in the short, medium and long term, will enable the transformation of the sector and position it at a higher level of value creation, significantly contributing to GDP growth and to a fairer distribution of wealth, also in inland areas. This plan will enable the industry to exceed 27 billion Euros in tourism revenue in 2027 in a sustainable manner, generating wealth and well-being throughout the territory, all year round, and investing in the diversification of markets and segments.

«We continue to invest in the domestic market so that the Portuguese continue to favour travel in our country»

Inflation and a possible recession may affect tourism. Are there more policies today to ‘attract’ national tourism than before the pandemic, since in times of crisis the country has no option but to turn inwards?
The government follows the issue of inflation closely, pondering at every moment the necessary measures to mitigate its impact on the tourism sector. On the other hand, we continue to invest in the domestic market so that, as happened in 2020, the Portuguese continue to favour travel in our country, throughout the year, contributing to reducing seasonality, maintaining, increasing and valuing jobs in inland regions and promoting the consumption of national products. It is a winning investment.

6 September 2022

T. Filomena Abreu