Analysis prepared by the Guimarães Sports Studies Center (CEDG) to the dynamics of recovery of users and practitioners in sports facilities managed by Tempo Livre in the period between March 2020 and June 2021 reveals a drop close to 80 percent.
Despite the adoption of the strictest standards of hygiene and safety, compliance with the determinations established by the health authority and the development of new communication strategies, the decrease in the number of users in sports facilities managed by Tempo Livre in Guimarães it is overwhelming.
In the indoor pools of Candoso, Moreira de Cónegos and Brito, the drop in the number of users is 77 percent, corresponding to 4.140 fewer students attending the three facilities in 2020. At the end of May, the number of users in these facilities was 1.489, which corresponds to a recovery of 6,9 percent, compared to the values of May 2020, values that are still far from what would be expected at this stage of the pandemic.
In Candoso Swimming Pool there was the greatest decrease in users, with a drop of over 80%, followed by Brito Swimming Pool, with 76,8%. In the Moreira de Cónegos Swimming Pool the fall was less pronounced, with a reduction of users of 63,2 percent.
The water entertainment park, Scorpio, registered a drop of 56,7 percent, corresponding to less than 48.314 entries. The outdoor swimming pool in Brito, which usually has a much lower number of entries, had a reduction of 52,5 percent, corresponding to 5.313 fewer entries.
In line with the reduction of accesses and users, the Gémeos Castro Athletics Track pointed out a 39,1 percent drop in individual entries between 2019, where there were 10.152 individual entries, and 2020, where this number was 6.178. Still, this was the only sports facility managed by Tempo Livre to close the year with a positive balance, considering the scenario.
At the Almor Vaz Pavilion (Inatel), there was a 26,2 percent reduction in the occupancy rate.
To Amadeu Portilha, Chairman of the Board of Tempo Livre, these numbers are indicators of the “a trail of discouragement that this pandemic has left in the sports sector in general, and in sports facilities in particular, and that a very great effort of creativity will be necessary to recapture users who have left our facilities.”, adding that ”the erroneous and contradictory communication about the consequences of the pandemic and the ongoing vaccination process, does not help anything either, because mistrust and fear continue to prevail.".
