Aveiro, Portugal, April 15, 2025 (Lusa) - The new president of Turismo Centro de Portugal, Rui Ventura, on Tuesday launched the challenge of creating a school hotel to perpetuate the authenticity of the traditions of the various regions in the centre of the country. "In order for traditions to be maintained and authenticity to last, we have to perpetuate them, and I'm calling for the creation of a school hotel, providing a specialised response so that the various areas of tourism don't lose the flavours I mentioned, and providing the territory with qualified human resources," he said. The former mayor of Pinhel, Rui Ventura, was sworn in at the end of this morning as president of the executive committee of the Regional Entity for Tourism in the Centre of Portugal, at a ceremony held at the Aveiro Exhibition Park. After listing a series of tastes from the country's centre, Rui Ventura promised to "do everything possible" to maintain the territory's identity. To this end, he indicated his intention to create intermediate platforms to discuss and interact with the various inter-municipal communities regularly, so that they "don't lose their identity". "We have to complement each other by creating seductive anchors to arouse curiosity and, as a consequence, a longer stay for tourists," he added. According to Rui Ventura, Turismo Centro de Portugal will continue to work "tirelessly" on environmentally sustainable tourism, keeping up with the new times and "the necessary prosperity with the inevitable and fractious decarbonisation agenda". "We can't confiscate the future of our children and grandchildren due to ingrained habits or selfish comfort," he said. He also told those present that old paradigms need to be changed, particularly in terms of mobility within the territory and to the territory. "The Centre of Portugal has unique conditions to be a development lever for the whole of Portugal," he explained. According to Rui Ventura, reflecting on the strategy for positioning the tourist brand associated with the Centre Region is also important. "Communicating the destination is one of them and we must focus on one of the tools on which this communication has been based: the tourist map for the national and international markets. I consider the renewal of this map to be fundamental for better promotion of the Centre Region," he said. In addition to its commitment to digitalisation and sustainability, Rui Ventura said that Turismo do Centro de Portugal should continue to invest in new marketing models and distribute, monitor, and audit the tourist destination. It must also "further deepen" its relationship with the neighbouring Spanish regions of Castilla y León, Extremadura and the Community of Madrid. The Secretary of State for Tourism, who was present at the ceremony, pointed out the need to work on Law no. 33/2023, which establishes the legal framework for regional tourism areas in mainland Portugal, their delimitation and characteristics, and the legal framework for the organisation and operation of regional tourism bodies. "It's a law that is outdated, not least because the regions have proven that we can travel a path of greater administrative and financial autonomy, without jeopardising alignment with the authority and Turismo de Portugal," he said. Regarding Law 33/2023, the Secretary of State for Tourism, Pedro Machado, acknowledged that "it wasn't perfect" because the universities and polytechnics couldn't even attend the general meetings and because the formula found in the budget allocation didn't give a sufficient sum. "The revision of Law 33 itself may fall short of the expectations created and whoever is responsible for leading the next Secretary of State for Tourism may go even further," he said. CMM/ADB // ADB. Lusa