Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas defended Tuesday that Lisbon’s new international airport should be close to the city, as it is an “extremely important” factor for tourism.
“Lisbon Airport is Lisbon’s international airport and therefore the airport must be near Lisbon. […] I don’t measure kilometers, I measure proximity and this proximity is extremely important for tourism in Lisbon,” Carlos Moedas asked the Prime Minister, António Costa, at the opening of the 6th Tourism Summit, in the auditorium of the Champalimaud Foundation, listened.
Carlos Moedas welcomes the agreement reached by the government with the PSD on a final decision on the location of the airport and has also asked António Costa to expedite the decision.
“Lisbonians want speed, those who are here, Francisco Calheiros [presidente da Confederação do Turismo de Portugal]they want speed, we need a decision in 2023, we can’t wait any longer,” the mayor underlined.
According to Carlos Moedas, the prime minister guaranteed that the mayor will be given a seat at the decision-making table at the new airport. “I know I’ll be sitting at the table,” Coins assured.
The mayor of Lisbon took the opportunity to ask tourism entrepreneurs, whom he thanked for what they are doing for Lisbon, that the growth of the sector takes into account the people of Lisbon.
“Tourism can only grow if it’s for the people of Lisbon, if it also serves the city and that’s what we need to do, this growing connection,” he defended.
Carlos Moedas recalled that tourism is responsible for 20% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the city of Lisbon and for 15% of employment.
Source: DN
