om dia a todos! Greetings to all and welcome to the result of another ESHTE/INATEL conference, this time, in a slightly different format than usual. On behalf of the INATEL Foundation, I would like to express our thanks to ESHTE for this initiative and to all the speakers who, once again, demonstrated their willingness to share knowledge and reflection on such an important topic for the hospitality and tourism sector. It is known that tourism is one of the sectors most affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Furthermore, COVID-19 will affect all countries in different ways and with different degrees. The ability of countries to respond to and recover from this unprecedented crisis will also vary significantly. To reflect on how to manage this crisis in the tourism sector and find methodologies to mitigate its impacts, it is essential to define strategies that will accelerate the recovery. Cancellations, refunds, insurance, demotivation, uncertainty, lack of confidence and closure are currently common situations for most hospitality and tourism organisations. In Portugal, it is estimated that, due to COVID-19, a 25% reduction in tourism activity, both for non-resident visitors and domestic tourism, will lead to a 2.9% reduction in annual GDP. The COVID-19 pandemic will thus have significant and transversal impacts on the Portuguese economy, especially in the tourism sector, which will be one of the most affected. The INATEL Foundation has been heavily affected by the context of the pandemic, implying the suspension of all its commercial activity, both in terms of travel programs and in terms of the operation of its 17 hotels. Nevertheless, as a social economy entity, the INATEL Foundation has been playing an active role in this battle, either by making its network of hotels available for the reception of non-infected people who need a temporary residence or by creating a network of volunteers from their workers, for local support to people and organisations in need. B
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