Ana Mendes Godinho, the Secretary of State for Tourism, said the Alojamento Local system for short-term rentals has been a key part of the success of the booming tourism sector, accounting for 10% of overnight stays last year, provising 12% of the number of total beds available to tourists.
Godinho was speaking at a review of 2016 tourism figures organised by the Associação de Restauração e Similares de Portugal and was expected to announce her review of the Alojamento Local system and list the changes that she was going to make.
The Local Accommodation sector has contributed to job creation, a source of alternative income for owners, and has seen many properties done up to be let that otherwise would have remained empty, said the Secretary of State.
The short-term rental sector has "positioned Portugal in markets where it was not operating and could not reach."
As for the 2008 AL rules and regulations that have had many property owners tearing out their hair in frustration, or joining the booming grey market for illegal rentals, Godinho said it has not been easy to get this rental market into the formal, regulated economy but was full of praise for her predecessors who had put in place the AL registration scheme.
Godinho said the Local Accommodation legislation, of which Portugal was a pioneer, is "a great innovation factor in Portugal and is referred to in international forums as being a country with an exemplary project."
Astoundingly, when looking at the AL uptake figures, Godinho claimed that Portugal is a case study for the "ability to show that when rules are created, the economy reacts and there is a large migration from the informal to the formal economy."
As for her promise in 2015, on taking office, to look at the mess that the 2008 legislation had caused and to change it, the Secretary of State for Tourism said that it was not worthwhile making changes without knowing what needs changing and, in her opinion, the changes needed are minimal. A 180 degree turnaround from her opinion that the AL system was not fit for purpose, when she took office.
This was a political view from a Secretary of State that either is content to run a scheme that has the full force of the law but which less than 20% of accommodation owners have chosen to join, or she is content to allow the bulk of the AL sector to operate illegally.
Godihno can not be expected to tell the truth and will not expect many to believe her, but to leave the multi-agency AL rules in place having promised to change them, is a disappointment to many who dutifully have followed the guidelines to get registered, often at significant cost for no discernible benefit.
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For information on the Alojamento Local registration scheme and allied mattters, contact Nalle, 'The voice for local lodging in Portugal'
or contact afpop,
