426 COMPETITION LAW IN TOURISM such as the airline sector, given their relevance to the overall analysis. This is particularly significant when considering the Azores and Madeira given their geographic situation, as access to their territory relies heavily on air travel for the development of tourism as detailed hereunder in F. In its 27 May 2021 Conclusions, the Council recalls that “tourism is a cross-cutting economic and social activity with a wide-ranging impact on regions’ economic growth, employment and social and environmental sustainable development, which contributes to the preservation and promotion of European values and cultural heritage”10. B.2. The importance of tourism for Portugal According to data published by Turismo de Portugal, IP (“Turismo de Portugal”)11, 25.2 million guests visited Portugal in 2018, the sector generated 328.5 thousand jobs (representing 6.7% of the economy), and the revenues contributed to 8.3% of Portugal’s gross domestic product (“GDP”)12. In 2019, 27 million guests visited Portugal, which represented a 7.2% increase when compared to 2018. Furthermore, the sector generated 336.8 thousand jobs (weighing 6.9% in the national economy). Until the COVID-19 crisis, tourism was the largest exporting economic activity of the country, being responsible, in 2019, for 52.3% of services exports and 19.7% of total exports. Portugal had already been elected in 2017 by the World Travel Awards as the world’s leading destination, having upheld the title in 2018 and in 2019. In 2019, Lisbon was announced as Europe’s Leading City Break Destination and Madeira as Europe’s Leading Island Destination, showing how visible is the growing awareness of the country as a “quality destination”. Focusing on the importance that the geographic situation of the Portuguese territory has in the approach towards tourism, the specificities of the Madeira and Azores require further clarification. They are two of the nine Outermost Regions in the European Union (“ORs”). These are traditionally characterised 10 Under the Portuguese Presidency of the Council, on 27 May 2021 the Council published Conclusions concerning “Tourism for Europe in the next decade: Sustainable, Resilient, Digital, Global and Social”. Available at: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/49960/st08881-en21.pdf 11 Amongst other competencies, Turismo de Portugal is entrusted with the management of European Union investment funds specifically targeted at the touristic sector, besides providing technical support for undertakings present in this sector. For more information, please visit the website http://www.turismodeportugal.pt/pt/Paginas/ homepage.aspx. 12 In paragraph 22 of the Commission’s decision approving the State aid to TAP [State aid SA.57369 (2020/ N) COVID-19 – Portugal], the Portuguese authorities refer that tourism has accounted for 14.6% of the country’s GDP in 2018.
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