Study author says the impact of the Web Summit in Portugal is positive
One of the co-authors of the study by the Economic Studies Office of the Ministry of Economy, which points out that there was a drop of approximately 40% in relation to initial projections, considers that the impact of the Web Summit is positive for Portugal.
However, the new study released this Wednesday already points to a gross generated value of 69.8 million euros and only 29.7 million in tax revenue. These are, respectively, a decrease of 44% and 49.2%.
AN Renaissance, João Cerejeira explains that the projections were based on “strong investment” in the expansion of FIL and that the current space does not allow to receive “a number greater than the 70 thousand participants” of the Web Summit 2019.
Despite the numbers “below expectations”, the economist points out numbers of tourist revenue that would not have been achieved if it weren’t for the holding of the event in Portugal.
“Public investment is lower than the tax revenue that the Government generates for foreign visitors”, he emphasizes.
“These are foreign visitors who wouldn’t go to the country if it wasn’t for the event. The revenue associated with these visitors exceeds the investment of the State”, he adds.
The study by the Economic Studies Office of the Ministry of Economy makes a set of recommendations, among which is the decentralization of the conference.
“Encourage the organization to start a process of decentralizing the event, with micro-events in other cities across the country. According to the interpretation of some investors, the event should be less and less Lisbon and more and more Portuguese”, says the document.
João Cerejeira necessarily a “pre-Web Summit” or other type of smaller events, in anticipation of the main Web Summit, spread across the country.
“It was possible that there were some components to be highlighted. There could be an event more focused on a specific area. This component could be decentralized, in Porto, in Braga, or even in Aveiro”, he says.