Lisbon Tourism concerned about perception of insecurity calls for greater police visibility.
The tourism sector is concerned about “a change in the perception of security” in the city of Lisbon, according to the president of the Regional Tourism Entity, who calls for increased police visibility and a coordinated strategy between entities.
Speaking to the Lusa news agency, Carla Salsinha said that the change, felt in recent months, refers especially to the central and most touristic areas of the capital.
“There is concern. Tourists themselves are beginning to feel a change in their perception of safety. […] There are other sectors of the economy that are not able to overcome the various crises in the same way that tourism has managed to do. Together with private and state entities, we have been paving the way here and year after year we have been conquering and overcoming challenges, but there are two fundamental things, regardless of the products and the tourist offer […]: first, our ability to welcome visitors and the second is to be a safe country”, she said.
Carla Salsinha said that there have been reports of robberies and the presence of drug addicts, including at the entrance to hotels, mainly in the Baixa area.
“For the first time, the veil of insecurity is beginning to be lifted on social media, which tourists use to give their opinions about the city. The Baixa area is clearly starting to receive some less positive comments. What we want is more human resources and more police visibility on the streets. We want to sit down with the Ministry of Internal Affairs to discuss the matter,” she said.
The representative acknowledged that “you cannot get drug addiction off the streets overnight”, as this response requires mechanisms and support at national and local level, and also considered that it is necessary to make the police profession “more attractive”.
However, she called for investment in reinforcing human resources, to have “police officers on the streets, patrolling cars, bicycles, motorbikes – that is, the visibility of the police, both for citizens and tourists” – and he also defended video surveillance.
On February 6th, training will be held for the hotel industry with the PSP to publicize the precautions that must be taken.
“We are doing our job, our way. We can improve the situation not only for tourists, but for everyone who lives in the city. What we cannot do is wait another seven or eight months. I often say that the time of public bodies is not the time of society, which evolves more quickly. Therefore, we appeal to our Minister of Internal Affairs to help us,” she said.