The Prime Minister of Cabo Verde Ulisses Correia e Silva has launched in São Lourenço dos Órgãos, the Operational Tourism Program (POT) as an accelerator of growth and a boost to employment and as a transforming and reliable sector in the resumption of tourist flow.
As a strategic part of the executive’s program for tourism, the POT is based on a model of tourism growth anchored on sustainability, preservation of the country’s natural, cultural, heritage, and human resources, as an added value for the construction of a resilient and sustainable tourism product.
The program also aims at a diversified tourism product in all islands and municipalities.
Ulisses Correia e Silva said that with this program we are at a point of arrival and departure regarding the transformation that is intended to be introduced in the tourism sector, strongly impacted by the pandemic, convinced that tourism is one of the sectors that will recover most quickly, as long as there is a return to flow and confidence.
“We are ensuring that this recovery is not the same as what existed before, but that it is even better, in relation to everything that Cabo Verde can offer for the development of sustainable tourism and that it is in fact an accelerator of development, which has an impact on economic growth”, said the Head of Government.
In this regard, he stressed that tourism should be seen as a sector that attracts other sectors, as it has this valence, warning that Cape Verde needs scale and dimension, not only in terms of quantity but above all, in terms of income.
The POT, he specified, was developed in a very integrated concept, coming out of strategic planning, facing long-term horizons, which go beyond that of political cycles, since they are structuring and fit into the “master-plans” of each of the islands that define the architecture and the inventory of the existing potential in the country, in a diversified and differentiated way.
He also considered that this program has a very important aspect, as it is multisectoral with multi-stakeholders in a medium-term perspective, as it is an integrated project, with a focus, so that each shield injected has a purpose, so he considered the management as the great challenge of this program, so that it is efficient and effective.
“The first step is understanding this. We need to have all the actors, the Government, the municipal councils, the private sector, our international partners focused on the same program and for the same objectives”, asserted the Prime Minister, highlighting the focus on economic, social and environmental sustainability. environment, emphasizing the commitment to green tourism.
This is due to the understanding that Cape Verde has dormant potential on its islands, which can be agreed upon and transformed in resources into values, as long as they are worked on with quality and accessibility, as well as the creation of conditions for the practice of rural, cultural tourism, aimed at creating employment and promoting entrepreneurship.
Source: inforpress