Mayor highlights tourism results in Setúbal

The Mayor, André Martins, revealed yesterday that tourist demand in Setúbal grew by 60 percent in the first quarter of 2023, which he attributes to the municipal strategy for promoting tourism and the responsiveness of operators.

At a dinner held at Casa da Baía, which brought together more than five dozen representatives of around 45 tourist agents in the region, President André Martins underlined that the first months of 2023 in the region continue the trend of “good performance” registered in 2022 , according to data released by the Lisbon Regional Tourism Authority.

“In the first quarter alone there was a growth in tourist demand of around 60 percent in the municipality. These results continue the good performance that comes from 2022, with Setúbal maintaining and strengthening its positioning in its tourist profile in the main markets of Portugal, Spain, Brazil, France and Italy”, said the mayor.

After domestic travel in 2021 boosted the improvement of the sector at national level, “confidence in tourism returned in 2022” and “everything indicates that 2023 will exceed expectations”, with the beginning of the year proving to be “very good ” in tourist demand in the region and the commitment to sun and sea products, gastronomy, nature and wine tourism to create more business opportunities.

Setúbal has increased demand and “was even one of the municipalities in the Lisbon region with the lowest drop in tourism during the pandemic”, with the most recent official data indicating that “it has become the fourth most relevant municipality” from a tourist point of view .

According to official figures, in the comparison between the years 2019 and 2020, Setúbal was one of the municipalities in the Lisbon region with the lowest drop in tourism, with a reduction of 46 percent, compared to losses of 71,5 percent in terms of tourism. regional and 63,2 percent nationally

For the mayor, “this resilience and the relatively good tourist results in Setúbal are related to the profile and tourist experience that boosts demand”.

André Martins underlined that the municipality has implemented a tourism promotion strategy based on the sustainability of the destination's resources, "refusing actions to encourage large-scale tourism and betting instead on segmented tourism and respect for local communities".

André Martins pointed out that identity, sustainability and inclusion are the main axes of the tourism strategy in Setúbal and highlighted that “the strong relationship and permanent interaction with tourist agents have allowed the concertation of the strategy and positioning in national and international markets. foreigners".

According to the mayor, tourism plays a “fundamental” role in supporting some economic sectors in the region.

These are the cases of the growth of catering and the increase in microenterprises of tourist entertainment that have boosted new tourism products, which contributes to “valuing the length of stay of national and foreign visitors in the region”.

The mayor reaffirmed Setúbal's commitment as a "tourist destination structured along the entire value chain", recognized "for its identity and differentiation of the experiences offered, with central concerns in terms of sustainability and authenticity".

The municipality presents itself as a destination with a “very wide range of tourist products, directed towards two of its greatest natural riches, the Serra da Arrábida and the Sado Estuary”, with an offer of nature, adventure and tourism activities. nautical component.

With regard to the urban component, he pointed out the fact that “some of the most emblematic and identitary monuments of the region are located in Setúbal, such as the Convent of Jesus, the Mercado do Livramento and the Museu do Trabalho Michel Giacometti”, to which are added the typical villages of Azeitão.

Gastronomy, based on the quality of fish and oysters, is, according to André Martins, “another anchor in the structuring of the tourist product”.

The municipality has been committed to consolidating the brand and the tourist offer over the last few years with its presence in strategic tourism fairs in foreign markets of interest and in various national and international publications, as well as with the carrying out of initiatives such as press and fam trips to present the tourism products of local operators.

At the meeting with local tourist agents, the mayor reaffirmed that the objectives of the Setúbal City Council are to “affirm tourism as a hub for economic, social and environmental development in the region”, as part of the National Strategic Plan for Tourism 2027.

The positioning of Setúbal as “one of the most competitive and sustainable tourist destinations in the Lisbon region” and the strengthening of identity and authenticity as a differentiating factor in the national and international offer, based also on the commitment to market niches to diversify the offer and to combat seasonality, are points of the municipal strategy.

The municipality is also working on strengthening the visibility of the tourist brand and local companies in the digital world, with the preparation of an application for EU funds for the development of a project that will allow to leverage the destiny of Setúbal as one of the European cities in the Smart Tourism Destination network.

President André Martins praised the work carried out by local tour operators in the defense and promotion of the Setúbal tourist brand and guaranteed the support of the City Council so that they “continue to invest in a quality offer”.