Tourism only used one third of the credit lines created for the sector

  • ECO News
  • 27 September 2021

The Secretary of State for Tourism, Rita Marques, announced that companies had only used around 30% of the credit lines created for the sector.

Half a year after the credit lines specifically intended to help national tourism were launched, the use of these instruments is far below expectations. The Secretary of State for Tourism said that companies in the sector have only used about 30% of these lines, which make a combined value of €400 million available, according to Jornal de Negócios.

The credit lines created to support the tourism sector are not having the demand that the government expected. For Rita Marques, the recovery of tourism activity, albeit timid, explains this low adhesion. “The lack of demand has to do with the tourism recovery already experienced in June, July and August, which left our companies in a stronger financial situation,” points out the Secretary of State for Tourism.

However, Rita Marques stresses that companies “are still going through a difficult period”. “We cannot relax, we have to execute the Reactivate Tourism Plan”, she stresses, referring to the €6 billion package launched by the Portuguese government this year to support the recovery of this sector.