President of AHRESP,
Secretary of State,
Representatives of Local Authorities,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I start by greeting and congratulating the officers and associates of the Portuguese Association of Accommodation, Catering and Similar Activities on its 114 years of activity. In this greeting I particularly salute those who have been attributed the 100 year medal, for the persistence and perseverance with which they accompanied the life of AHRESP and by having kept alive the associative spirit in this sector.

In 1896, the premises that provided food and drink services to the public set up, in the city of Lisbon, their first Association. Today, AHRESP, in a continuing and laudable effort of associative congregation, represents, at a national level, all the Catering and Drinks areas, as well as Hotel Accommodation, Rural Tourism, Country House Tourism and Local Accommodation.

AHRESP was able to gradually carry out this unification, regionally first and then on a sector level, always keeping to the objective of promoting the development and the qualification of the economical activities therein included, both nationally and internationally, and to provide support for its associated entrepreneurs. But it always endeavoured to keep, within the area of its concerns and recommendations, the defence of the interests of consumers and the valuing of Portuguese tourism.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

AHRESP timely decided, on the date when the International Human Rights Day is being celebrated, to ally this commemoration to the launching of a “Chart for the Right to Nourishment” and to a solidarity campaign intended to combat one of the calamities which, shamefully and silently, has been spreading throughout the less favoured layers of Portuguese society: the lack of access to suitable nourishment.

I praise this initiative promoted by AHRESP, to which I could not but associate myself, and which is a veritable example of how the civil society institutions can validly contribute towards a more cohesive, united and community minded Portugal.

I equally salute the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities and all the bodies and individualities who have joined this campaign and whose actions will be fundamental for its success and for its objectives to be achieved.

As I already had the opportunity to confirm in my visits throughout the whole Country, particularly in the campaigns included in the Routes to Social Inclusion and to the Local Innovatory Communities, the municipalities, the social solidarity organizations, the companies, that is, the civil society institutions have performed a valid role in the issue of social responsibility. I must render them my tribute and express my gratitude for the excellent work they have been developing and that has so greatly contributed to lessen the needs and ease the difficulties that are affecting so many Portuguese.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Tourism is a truly structural activity both in economic and social terms. It has a potential for growth, it adds value in taking advantage of the endogenous resources of each region, it encourages entrepreneurship in micro and small companies and exerts inducting and multiplying effects in other productive and service areas, thus establishing an ample network of interdependent activities, generators of employment and social cohesion. It is due to all these reasons, and the Local Authorities are well aware of it, that tourism continues being an important investment option, specifically in areas with reduced economic returns or requiring re-conversion processes.

Since it is naturally an integral part of tourist activity, gastronomy and wines assert themselves, nowadays, as a real tourist product with autonomous demand, be it due to its unquestionable cultural level, be it due to the new and creative experiences it can offer the visitor.

The modern tourist searches for pleasure and knowledge in his travels. He wants to enjoy unique and authentic products and, more than ever, deepen his knowledge of the oenological and gastronomical heritage of the regions he visits.

In accordance with the World Tourism Organization, there are more than one million tourist, in Europe only, to whom gastronomy and wines are the prime motivation in the decision to travel, and approximately thirty million tourists who, although guided towards other tourism products, condition the choice of a destination to the quality of the gastronomy and of the restaurants they may find.

Portugal, with a diversified morphology and outstanding microclimates, exhibits a vast and delicate offer of wines, has unique grape varieties and a much diversified gastronomy, based upon high quality regional products. We are, curiously, the country with more regional products certified by European authorities.

Portugal is facing the very serious economic and financial issues of which we are all aware. We live in a period when it is necessary to join efforts and wills, gain confidence and believe in the future. The investment in the production of goods and services competitive in external markets has to be one of our main priorities. To reach and consolidate this objective we have to work acceptably on several fronts: endeavour to obtain gains in productivity, either through technological innovation or through innovation, creativity and differentiation, generate a culture of encouragement to knowledge, to competence, to entrepreneurship and to staff qualification, and value good management and the better examples.

We have to be much more demanding. Demanding, first of all, upon ourselves, our attitudes and our performance and, after this, trying to exercise that demand and motivate it in the several spheres of intervention – economic, political, social or cultural – in which we take part.

AHRESP is, recognizably, a well structured and organized association, which has greatly contributed to the modernization and improvement in the quality of catering or similar services. Instances of this are its interventions, of great practical and pedagogical effect, in the preparation of programmes in the fields of training, capacity development and professional certification, in the encouragement of best practices in food, nutrition and dietary hygiene and safety, as well as in the support for the setting up and organization of companies in its sector.

I again congratulate AHRESP on its 114 years of activity and for the praiseworthy initiatives it has promoted in the service of the improvement of the quality of living of the Portuguese.

Thank you very much.