The redevelopment of the riverfront of Lisbon should gain a second wind this year, with the start of the rehabilitation of the Cais do Sodré and the Field of onions and with the completion of the project, but even with the start of works, creation a museum dedicated to the findings in the Ribeira das Naus.
These are some of the projects that the Lisboa Tourism Association (ATL) considers “essential to position Lisbon a new level of excellence tourist” and is expected to be developed during 2015, as announced on Friday at a press conference .
To the already announced projects join others, such as the creation of accessibility assisted the Castle Hill in Lisbon, the development of the project to the public opening of the Marques de Pombal Palace, in Oeiras, and the opening of a new interpretive center in Sintra, which should take place before the summer. According to the deputy chairman of the ATL, Mário Machado, ongoing are already creating working groups “for development of centralities Arrábida and Arc de Tajo” and the “selection of themes and content development” for a set of scripts theme entitled “Lisbon stories”.
In his speech, Vice Mayor of Lisbon, chairman of the ATL, highlighted the importance of “continuing the effort of upgrading the riverfront” by implementation of the projects already announced for the Cais do Sodré and the area between the Palace Square and the future terminal of Santa Apolonia cruises. Fernando Medina told PUBLIC that everything is being done so that these works are started this year and showed prudence when asked if these investments will be financed with proceeds of the Municipal Fee Tourist: “Within the ATL we will reach an agreement, we will discuss which priority projects to be financed from now. “
It is true that, contrary to what was once told when creating this rate was announced, the camera will not invest in the creation of a center of Congress in Hall Carlos Lopes. “We thought there was a higher dose of consensus and recently found that there would be” summarized Fernando Medina, but pointed out that if there is a private investor to take on this initiative, “the camera will see very much welcome and support, within its mandate” .
As for the creation of a museum dedicated to the findings in the Ribeira das Naus, the socialist mayor said that the camera is now “to get acquainted with the Navy” for the realization of this intention, adding that his ambition is that by 2015 it can go beyond the development of the project, moving from paper to work.
With regard to delivery to the municipality in the South and Southeast Station for installation of a “maritime tourism gare” , which is Antonio Costa claiming several years, Fernando Medina has a less optimistic. “We hope this mandate to reach an understanding with the government,” he said.
The press conference on Friday also served to present “the main figures of the Lisbon Tourism in 2014″. Numbers which, according to Mario Machado, demonstrate that the region “had a performance to all extraordinary titles.”
Last year, Lisbon was the city of Europe where the number of overnight stays grew most over the previous year, having risen by 15.5%. If you look at the number of foreign overnight stays in the Portuguese capital, there was an increase of 15.3%, which puts it in second place at European level, behind London. Also the room occupancy rate, the average price per sold bedroom and the average price per available room increased from 2013 to 2014.
This year, the forecast is that the ATL in Lisbon open the doors 20 new hotels with over 1,600 rooms. Asked if he feared that these numbers might prove excessive, the president of ATL answered “no”. Not only because “occupancy rates have gone up and the yield per available room too,” but also because Fernando Medina believes that “investors are the best people to assess” whether there is justification proceed with the installation of new hotels.
And what expectations has the ATL for the year that has just begun? “Our ambition is maximum and we are working on it,” said the socialist who once advocated that tourism growth that has seen in Lisbon is the result of “a long-term project of great persistence and continuity over the years. ”
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