Tour operators in Ponta D’Ouro are complaining of a lack of customers since the start of the protests in the country, which are also being felt in that tourist hotspot, with riots and road blockades aimed at forcing down the prices of products.
According to the President of the Matutuine Business Council, Celma Issufo, no businesses have been vandalised or looted, but the situation has reduced the number of visitors to the area.
There are no customers, neither from the institutions that go there to hold their conferences, nor those who go there for tourism, who generally go there at weekends.
‘Clients are not going to go to a venue without knowing if they’re going to return home or if there will be a roadblock, or if their car will be vandalised and in this situation we understand that no one is going to use their funds to go sightseeing, because with all this happening we don’t know what tomorrow will be like,’ lamented Celma Issufo.
With the beaches empty, restaurants without customers and hotels without guests, not even small businesses, such as the sale of handicrafts, are flowing, let alone big businesses, which is already being felt in the accounts of tour operators, who say they are already having difficulty paying their employees’ salaries and other current expenses.
‘What we’re most worried about is wages. We’re manoeuvring to get money from where it doesn’t exist, because we can’t even resort to short-term funds to pay salaries, because it’s not sustainable. As for paying our basic expenses, we’re even trying to figure out how to manage and negotiate with our suppliers, but the situation isn’t good,’ she said.
Because of the situation, the president of the Matutuine Business Council revealed that some establishments have opted to close their doors for one or two days a week as a way of containing costs.
With the situation like this, the hope now is that things will calm down in the next few days so that there can be some customer flow at Easter.
O País
