Lisbon, July 8, 2024 (Lusa) - The Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, insisted on Monday that the tourist tax be increased from two to four euros, the proceeds of which can be used to invest in the areas of city cleaning, culture and green spaces.
"If the city sees the value of tourism, be it in better cleaning, better spaces, but also more culture, then tourism is really worth it, it's visible," defended the mayor at the signing ceremony of the concession contract for the creation of the "Interpretive Centre of Almada Murals in the Maritime Stations", between the Lisbon Porto Administration (APL) and the Lisbon Tourism Association (ATL).
Carlos Moedas once again defended the doubling of the tax charged to tourists visiting Lisbon, from two to four euros per night, which was criticised by the Portuguese Tourism Confederation (CTP) and the Hotel Association of Portugal (AHP), and gave as an example the new cultural and tourist centre of Almada Negreiros' murals in the maritime stations, which received around €3.5 million from the tourist tax to make it a reality.
"When I say that I want to increase the tourist tax, it's precisely to have more culture, more cultural facilities, it's to make the city cleaner, it's to have greener spaces," insisted the mayor, speaking to journalists at the end of the ceremony.
Carlos Moedas also emphasised that this measure allows "lower taxes for Lisbon residents", pointing out that tourism accounts for almost 20% of the city's economy and 25% of employment and guaranteeing that the idea "is not to reduce tourism, but to invest in other areas as well".
"We've been working with Turismo de Lisboa to think about new centralities, [...] we have more or less 35,000 tourists [a day] who enter our city and these 35,000 usually go to exactly the same places, they go to the same parts of the city and what we have to achieve is new centralities, as is the case with what we're doing here," he pointed out.
The director-general of the Lisbon Tourism Association, Vítor Costa, said that what most concerns the sector in the capital is the use of the money collected from the tourist tax.
"Tourists, when they go to a particular city, also have their weight, their interference, and what concerns us in the tourism sector is that there are resources for tourists to have a greater connection with the city and that the quality of the city is improved with these resources as well," he said, considering that "it's good for tourists, but it's also, above all, good for residents".
With regard to the fears expressed by some organisations that the increase in the tax will reduce the number of tourists, Vítor Costa said he didn't share this view and believes that this won't happen.
"We've already had experience of when the tax was introduced, with one euro, when it went up to two euros, and that had no impact. This movement towards requalification, towards a higher quality of tourism in Lisbon has taken place," he argued.
Today's ceremony was presided over by the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz, who, in a statement to journalists, took stock of "100 days of a government that came to do and not for party politics".
"These are the first 100 days of many others that the government led by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro will have to show the Portuguese what it has come for," he emphasised.
Asked about the international public tender for the construction and management of the first section of the Porto - Lisbon high-speed railway line, which has received two applications, Pinto Luz said that "the government doesn't have to wait for many or few applications" and that the important thing is "that it's done well, on time and within budget".
MPE/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
