“It was a decision that I already made and that I noted to the president of Turismo de Portugal so that there is a 20% increase in the support of Turismo de Portugal for regional tourism entities”, said Nuno Fazenda.

According to the member of the Government, “it is important to give more voice, more strength and more resources to the regions”, recognizing that we can go “further” in financing regional entities.

The Secretary of State for Tourism responded to Raul Almeida, who in his inauguration speech, defended a budget update for regional entities.

Nuno Fazenda considered that “regions play a fundamental role in tourism”, playing an “important role in affirming their territories”.

During his speech, the government official noted that tourism continues to achieve “historic results” in the country, noting that the first half of 2023 was “the best semester ever in the history of tourism”, growing both in overnight stays and in revenue tourist.

Labour issues

However, he noted that there are some problems, namely the lack of labor in the sector.

“We have to act in different dimensions to attract talent to the tourism sector and with regard to qualifications”, he noted, considering that it is necessary to increase the average salary in the sector, which remains below the average for the national economy.

For the Secretary of State, “there must be more effort to progress in this direction”, also pointing to the recruitment of foreign labor to solve this problem.