At the XVII Annual Tourism Conference of the Order of Economists – Regional Delegation of Madeira, Professor José Manuel Viegas from the TIS consultancy analyzed the impact of tourism growth on the region’s infrastructure and mobility.
Professor José Manuel Viegas pointed out that tourism constitutes a very high weight in Madeira’s economy, about 30% of GDP, and warned that there are already some saturation tensions on parts of the transport system, with visible congestion at certain points.
According to Viegas, public transport remains unattractive to visitors, as it is too resident-oriented and there is not enough information to encourage tourists to use the public network system. He recounted his own experience of trying to navigate his way around Madeira using only public transport, stating: “My options were limited and the search effort was enormous.”
Among the proposed solutions, he pointed out the promotion of the use of public transport with dedicated tourist routes, the electrification of the bus fleet, the encouragement of shared transport, and the encouragement of active modes, such as cycling and pedestrian mobility, based on a safe cycling network.
He also defended the need to limit the access of light passenger cars, rent-a-car, and TVDE to certain areas, as well as to avoid excessive concentrations of tourist buses near points of interest.
“The key is to better manage the use of public space and maintain the elasticity of the system, without resorting to limitations that may leave visitors poorly served,” he stressed, advocating the adoption of smart city concepts, with real-time monitoring and evaluation.
For Viegas, preserving the balance involves policies aimed at both supply and demand, recalling that “Madeira continues to focus almost exclusively on the resident population, when it also needs to look at those who visit it”
Madeira may be a tourist destination, but it is also a living, breathing, working community that also needs a public transport system dedicated to their needs. There is a danger of selling out to tourism at the cost of the people who live and work here.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
