Mira, Portugal, Nov. 19, 2024 (Lusa) - Organising more international events is one of the objectives of the new strategy of Turismo Centro de Portugal (TCP), whose action plan until 2027 is currently under review is to attract more international events, the president of the regional tourist board said o Tuesday.
Speaking to the Lusa news agency on the sidelines of the presentation of the Mira municipality's New Year's Eve programme, Raul Almeida sID that the TCP's action plan (2020-2027) was drawn up before the covid-19 pandemic and is being revised and updated.
"There has been a change in assumptions that need to be updated, and we intend to carry out this review. It involves listening to various organisations, partners, and entrepreneurs, gathering all the information, and defining a strategy in which there will be a series of priority axes from which we will work on tourism products," he said.
Speaking during the session in Mira (district of Coimbra), the organisation's president, who brings together 100 municipalities in the Centre region, argued that creating and attracting new events "are like a spring that attracts people".
According to Raul Almeida, by the end of this year, the tourism sector in Portugal is expected to account for 16% of the Gross Domestic Product and one of the new future strategies of the organisation he leads is precisely to attract events "that will continue to break the seasonality".
Raul Almeida told Lusa that "events are strategic, especially in a huge and diverse region" like the Centre of Portugal, where territorial cohesion is another factor to be considered and where a survey of available venues has already been carried out.
"There are 100 municipalities, and of those 100, a large proportion are in the country's interior. We have to find a way to attract international events, sporting events, conventions, congresses, shows that attract people outside of the high season and help create a new dynamic," he emphasised.
Although definitive data or concrete figures are still lacking, Raul Almeida anticipated that tourism growth in the Centre of Portugal would continue at the end of the year.
"I often say that in the Centre, we have room to grow, and we have to take advantage of it. One of the great challenges of updating the strategy is our diversity, from a huge coastline to the mountains, religious tourism, and immense gastronomy. It has been difficult over the years to make this a homogeneous region within this diversity," he noted.
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