PS-Madeira defends that an Integrated Plan for the Management of Tourist Flows be implemented in the Region, involving all tourism agents, in order to find and put into practice solutions to the problems of disorganisation and excess human load that occur in some points, such as Pico do Areeiro.
The proposal was put forward by Paulo Cafôfo, this afternoon, during a visit to the Machico Gastronomic Week, an event that, as he said, brings together the best that Madeira has – gastronomy and its people – including tourists.
The socialist leader referred to the record numbers that have been achieved in the tourism sector, with very positive results for the Region, and took the opportunity to clarify that “we do not have too many tourists,” but “too many problems,” which are related to the “lack of planning and organisation.” Examples of this are the overload that occurs on several pedestrian routes, as well as the difficulties in accessing Pico do Areeiro, which represent only “the tip of a flow management problem.”
Paulo Cafôfo understands, therefore, that an Integrated Plan for the Management of Tourist Flows should be created, involving travel agents and tourist entertainment agents, who are knowledgeable about the problem, to find the best solutions. “We cannot have ‘ad hoc’ and non-integrated solutions,” he said, also referring to the announced ‘shuttle’ connection to Pico do Areeiro, in relation to which doubts have already been raised.
Stressing the importance of ensuring people’s safety and preserving natural spaces, the President of the PS-M argues that this integrated plan aims, among other aspects, to monitor the human load on certain routes and define limits for that same load, using technological means for this purpose, but also to create new signage, limit access to certain locations and create other accesses. “We have many more spaces than those points of interest that are usually in tourist guides. It is necessary to know how to manage them, publicise them, promote them, and ensure that they have the safety conditions because we cannot jeopardise the quality of our tourism”, he maintained.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
