Rita Marques was speaking before the members of the Committee on Economics, Innovation, Public Works and Housing, in the Assembly of the Republic, at a hearing at the request of the CDS-PP, when she explained that, purging moratoriums of a fiscal and banking nature, the 22 billion euros made available to companies by December 31 will see "2.5 billion euros directed to the tourism sector".

These values fit into the set of instruments created by the Government to support the maintenance of jobs and the productive capacity of companies. The Secretary of State for Tourism also said that the support line to the treasury of Tourism of Portugal has already approved 55.6 million euros.

For the Apoiar.pt program, which has already received 36,944 applications, 46 percent of which are associated with the tourism sector, has already approved funding worth around 100 million euros, of which 43 million have already been paid. "As of yesterday [Tuesday], we had about 7,600 applications whose terms of acceptance are already signed, with payments made of 43 million euros," said Rita Marques.

For the future, the government said that a recovery plan is being drawn up, which will be based on five pillars: investment (strengthening confidence in investment and identifying points of connection with companies), knowledge, territory (initiatives that bet on territorial cohesion), connectivity (increasing the competitiveness of air transport) and promotion.

By September 2020, companies in the tourism sector suffered a reduction in revenues of 7.7 billion euros, which represents a 56% decrease in revenues, and means a 10-year decline, Rita Marques said. As for employment, he continued, in the third quarter of 2020 there were 285,000 jobs associated with tourism, representing a decrease of 14.8 percent and a decrease of 49,300 workers in the sector.