TOURISM LAW AND COMPETITION – A PORTUGUESE PERSPECTIVE 479 The amounts accumulated are confirmed by the Portuguese tax authorities through the invoices issued with the Portuguese taxpayer number of the relevant customer and such amounts, if sufficient, may be utilised to pay up to 50% of the amount of certain good or service. The management entities of this programme are the PortugueseTax Authority - as the entity responsible for the ascertainment of the amounts involved and disclosure of such information -, the Directorate-General for Treasury and Finance - as the entity responsible for managing the processing of the amounts of the benefit due under the program - and the Treasury and Public Debt Management Agency – IGCP, as the entity responsible for the bank transactions necessary to process the amounts of the benefit due under the program. Additionally, the Portuguese government has officially presented an action plan of EUR 6 000 000 000 to relaunch tourism176. This action plan is based in 4 pillars: (i) supporting companies, whether financially or on a operational strategic level; (ii) promoting safety through communication to companies, employees and customers; (iii) generating business by promoting Portugal as a safe destination, broadening the commercial offer, facilitating the purchase and information to customers; and (iv) building future in tourism on a sustainable and smart way. These actions aim at generating revenues in the Portuguese tourism sector of up to 27 000 000 000 until 2027. It should be borne in mind that time is of the essence for the success of the measures and practice in the EU has shown that not all the state aid notified to the Commission has been put into practice177, not to speak of the time lag between the announcement of the measures and its implementation. G. FINAL REMARKS Writing about tourism and competition from a Portuguese perspective is an evolving exercise for several reasons and had gained a new dimension with the COVID-19 economic crisis and public measures aiming at tackling it. The final remarks we first systematized when starting drafting the present contribution a year ago have evolved much but the backbone continues to be the 176 For more information please refer to the website: https://www.portugal.gov.pt/pt/gc22/comunicacao/ noticia?i=governo-apresenta-plano-de-acao-de-6-mil-milhoes-de-euros-para-reativar-o-turismo 177 For more information, see Reuters interview to Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, available here: https://www.reuters.com/article/eu-recovery-germany-idUSL8N2KE5DG.
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