Government’s €100M credit line for travel business

The Portuguese tourism bureau Turismo de Portugal, in partnership with the new Portuguese Investment Bank (Banco Português de Fomento), Mutual Guarantee Societies (SGM) – Sociedades de Garantia Mútua) and the banks will provide a €100 million credit line to travel agencies and tour operators to offset losses and refunds.

In a communiqué, the Ministry of the Economy said that the measure aimed at supporting the economy would help those businesses which had been most affected by the pandemic, being bank loans to exclusively bankroll the cash-flow needs of travel agencies and tour operators, and helping to offset the obligation to refund holidaymakers whose holidays and flights were cancelled or didn’t go ahead because of the pandemic”.
The total credit line of €100 million must be used by 30 June, and can be applied for by micro and SMEs as well as small mid-cap and mid-cap companies that run travel agencies or are tour operators.
These companies, even if they don’t meet all the requirements to be a SME, can apply if they come close to having some of the characteristics of this type of company.
“The credit operations will benefit from an independent guarantee on request, provided by the SGM and of up to 90% of the capital of each one of the loans is guaranteed for medium, small mid cap and mid cap,” states the Government.
“This new line of credit will help travel and tourism agencies to refund their clients the amounts that they has already received that corresponded to holidays and flight bookings that never took place or where cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This line will undoubtedly contribute to restoring the confidence of consumers, as well as encouraging future bookings with travel and tourism agencies,” says the Secretary of State for Tourism, Rita Marques, quoted in a communiqué.