This morning, the Association of Commerce, and Industry in Funchal (ACIF), outlined an extremely ‘black’ scenario for the hotel sector in Madeira, and as such, demands that it be allowed to actively participate in the revision of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) before it is sent to Brussels.
In a press conference, ACIF President Veiga França and Vice-President António Jardim Fernandes made a public presentation of a document, giving an account of their request for 230 million euros to be injected into the sector.
The recent survey required by ACIF, indicates 89% of hotels are surviving on residual activity or empty, while 48% of this number confirm that they will not be able to stay open beyond the end of this month, a mere 22% of hotel chains say that they can survive for another two months and only 17% said that they had enough reserves to see them through until the end of June. In other words, at least 70% of hotel owners/chains need immediate financial assistance.
The PRR document is already in the possession of the Regional Government, with Veiga França praising the creation of a working group, resulting from a meeting held with Pedro Calado last Monday; in which new and helpful measures can be agreed for the sector.
The ACIF president pointed out that 2020 only accounted for a third of the overnight stays compared to 2019, the lowest for 35 years. Moreover, the islands economy now depends on a fluctuating tourist population of approximately 30,000 people.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
