“I believe that, in this sense, with the tax measures, with the subsidies to employment, with special unemployment insurance, with some measures linked to the taxes devolution, We generate mechanisms to stimulate hiring,” he added.
For his part, the candidate of Open Town Hall, Guido Manini Rios, He put on the table some issues of his political agenda that, according to him, have an impact on the lives of citizens and especially on employment. “The problem of crime, of public insecurity, is one of the country’s great problems and no one can deny it. The problem of drug addiction, which is taking away entire generations, is also one of them. These problems can begin to be solved one day if there is work for all Uruguayans, if there are opportunities, if people have the path to get ahead in life through personal effort and not through pure and hard welfare, if they have the possibility that with their effort they can form their family and bring it forward. That is where the solution begins, of course that is not enough, but many of the serious problems that our society has today begin to be solved. And the tourism, The tourism sector is synonym for workbecause it has no roof,” said Manini Ríos.
“There are countries in the so-called first world that have in the tourism its first item in the economy. Why not the Uruguay? It is already one of the first items, for a long time. Why not take off and be the great first item? But for that, we the governors have to establish priorities”, said vehemently the leader of the council who put the image of Uruguay as “expensive” country as a problem for the sector as well.
“Anywhere in the world knows that to come to Uruguay spend more than if you were going to Argentina oa Brazil. He Uruguay It has to be differentiated by other things, it will continue to be expensive, that will not change immediately, unless something unforeseen happens, it will continue to be expensive. We have been experiencing this with governments of all stripes for a long time. Of course, it would have to change and generate that the great variable is the reduction of the public spending unnecessary,” he said.
In turn, the candidate of the Independent Party, Pablo Mieresalso chose to focus on the topic of employment. He presented some initiatives included in his government plan, taking into account the seasonal nature of the sector and focusing on training.
“The academy, the private sector and the Ministry of Tourism They must work on continuing to diversify the training offer to generate higher quality human resources, with greater professionalism, and therefore with better remunerations as well and the ability to attract talent from the tourism business community to make services of higher quality,” said Mieres, who also proposed promoting the entrepreneurship in tourism activities and implement flexibility measures in the distribution of working time for activities such as hotels and restaurants, among other points.
Finally, the Colorado candidate Andres Ojeda, After spending a few minutes criticizing Orsi’s absence, he emphasized the similarities between the coalition candidates: “Obviously there are nuances, obviously there are different emphases and that is why we are different candidates, that is clear, but there is a team. And it is the team that provides certainty. It is the team that provided certainty in these 4 and a half years that have just been reviewed and it is the team that provides certainty for the future,” he said.
Along these lines, he highlighted the work of the Ministry of Tourism that has been in the hands of the Colorado Party throughout the entire administration and the coordination with the private sector. “I think we should highlight the team’s work, because beyond the fact that the team was not all about one party, it has always been a team in itself. We see that it has always had the phone open to give and take,” said Ojeda.
Regarding his proposals, he mentioned the possibility of maintaining the permanent VAT discount to gastronomy. “Here are the parties that currently have the majority in Parliament, could we vote on this benefit definitively before the end of the period?” he asked.
The chicanery to Orsi and “the ostrich president”
A few days ago, the candidate of the Broad Front Yamandú Orsi He rejected the proposal of the Uruguayan Chamber of Tourism, which offered him to speak for an hour during the event while the candidates of the coalition could do so for only 15 minutes each. The idea was to equalize the time between the Frente Amplio candidate and the official candidates – which the opposition understands as a whole – but for the former mayor of cannelloni It is not a “matter of minutes.”
Delgado, who was in charge of opening the event, took the opportunity to launch a jibe at the opposition opponent. “I already have a present planned for his next birthday: it’s an agenda,” said the candidate for the National Party, referring to Orsi’s team, which claimed agenda problems for rejecting the invitation to participate.
Likewise, when the journalist Daniel Castro, The event’s moderator warned the white candidate that he had only one minute of time left, Delgado replied: “Don’t forget, there’s one hour left to distribute.”
Ojeda took up the joke with Orsi when he had the opportunity: “When one is absent, one leaves the sector and leaves the people behind. So I see it with increasing concern. We were at a farm event and 15 minutes before he sent a message saying “I won’t be there, a thousand apologies.” Today he says “I have scheduling problems.” He has priority in our agenda. This is not minor, jokes aside, I am worried about this ostrich tactic in the face of democracy and the next government. We cannot have an ostrich president,” said the Colorado candidate.
Next step: bilateral meetings
The president of the Chamber of Tourism, Mariana Cantera, He regretted the absence of Orsi and announced the union’s next steps to present to all the candidates its document “The tourism sector in Uruguay, present and future in view of the national elections.”
“We tried to find the best dynamic so that all political visions were represented. We did not succeed, but we will continue with the next stage that we had set out, visiting each of the candidates in their territories, to work face to face with you to reach a consensus.” National agreement for tourism with all parties and with a view to the next government of this country,” said Cantera.
“He tourism experienced an earthquake during the last three years, but despite that today we find ourselves in a hinge moment, a moment that could be key for the development of the industry, which in 2023, despite the crisis, generated revenues of 1.8 billion dollars in services,” he concluded.
Source: Ambito
