Having removed support for the Portugal Open tennis competition, Turismo de Portugal has removed its €1 million financial support for the Rally of Portugal.
Turismo de Portugal, led by John Cotrim de Figueiredo, justified the end of its support for the Rally of Portugal as being due to a change of strategy in tourism promotion.
"The million euros that the Rally of Portugal received will not disappear. It is going to be used, for example, to finance public support that will allow the installation of the newly-announced easyJet base at Oporto airport in 2015, an investment that is expected to have a structural impact on tourism in the north. "
Since 2007 until last year, the Rally of Portugal received direct support of €7 million from the state agency.
Turismo de Portugal notes that "since 2011 it has progressively reduced its support for events, diverting financial resources towards measures to strengthen direct cooperation with companies in addressing new markets and the marketing of their products."
Turismo de Portugal used to support about 40 events per year, last year it supported four.
"This reduction in investment in events has saved significant resources that has allowed us to invest consistently in other areas, particularly in terms of building support and partnerships with airlines operators," concluded Figueirido.
The Rally of Portugal will be held in the north of the country in a move away from the Algarve and is to cost "between €3.6 and €3.8 million," according to statements by Carlos Barbosa President of organisers, the Automobile Club of Portugal.
