CPLP tourism ministers’ meeting seeks to strengthen sector

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CPLP tourism ministers’ meeting seeks to strengthen sector

3:00 CAT | 05 May 2022

Photo: Ministério da Cultura e Turismo de Moçambique on Facebook

The Angolan minister of culture, tourism and environment on Tuesday considered the 11th meeting of tourism ministers of the Community of Portuguese-Language Countries (CPLP) an opportunity for the “consolidation of political and diplomatic cooperation to strengthen the sector.

Filipe Zau, who was speaking at the opening of the meeting in Luanda, said that the meeting aimed for “effective cooperation” between member states for the “strengthening of the economic and business aspect after a difficult period of crisis, as a result of the damaging effects of Covid-19.

“This meeting constitutes a resource for strengthening our relations of friendship and affection, as well as for the exercise of our multilateral, and also bilateral, cooperation for innovation in a context of environmental sustainability,” he said.

Angola leads the rotating presidency of the CPLP and at this meeting will take on the chairmanship of the meeting of tourism ministers of the organisation, which until now was held by Cabo Verde.

According to Filipe Zau, tourism, “is a proven sector that generates enormous expectations for strengthening the economies of the community, as it is through national and foreign investment that it will be possible to raise the revenues needed for the challenges.

The meeting’s motives include strengthening political coordination and sharing information on the contribution of tourism to the sustainable socio-economic recovery of the CPLP, consolidating political and diplomatic coordination on potential CPLP activities aimed at strengthening the tourism sector in member states.

The meeting should also take up the previous deliberations of the community’s tourism ministers meetings, assess the degree of execution of the Action Plan of the previous mandate and identify priorities for the 2022-2024 period.

“We are therefore confident, that within our community, tourism can help us create jobs, improve the quality of life of communities and contribute significantly to the enhancement and validation of the environmental and cultural heritage of the CPLP member states,” he concluded.

The executive secretary of the CPLP, Zacarias da Costa, recalled at the opening of the meeting that the pandemic “had a devastating impact on the economy and employment, with the tourism industry being severely affected by the measures to contain and mitigate the spread of the virus.

In his view, recognition of the economic importance of tourism and the need for its sustained and resilient recovery post-covid, “requires the CPLP to take a cross-cutting and integrated look, which contributes to the formulation of tourism policies that induce sustainable development”.

The cooperation strategy in the tourism sector, he noted, “is aligned with other development sectors of the CPLP, also structured in sectoral strategies and relevant to the development of the tourism sector.

Zacarias da Costa also renewed the commitment of the CPLP’s executive-secretary to “resume dialogue” with the World Tourism Organisation, with a view to “renegotiating the Memorandum of Understanding” between the two organisations.

“In order to seek synergies and partnerships that contribute to realising the potential that tourism represents for our member states,” he said.

As well as Angola, the tourism ministers of Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal and Sao Tome and Principe are participating in person at the meeting, while those of Brazil and Timor-Leste are taking part by videoconference.

“The contribution of tourism to the sustainable socio-economic recovery of the CPLP in the post-covid. Challenges and opportunities” is the motto of this 11th meeting of CPLP Tourism Ministers.

Source: Lusa