In the face of the carefully orchestrated government campaign to persuade the nation how well everything is going, the truth in the hotel and restaurant industry is that job losses have been running at 315 each and every day since the start of this year.
The hoteliers and restaurateurs association is of course desperately concerned with "the worst results ever" which were released by the independent National Statistics Institute last Friday.
A spokesman from the Association of Hotels, Restaurants in Portugal (AHRESP) commented "once again, the Association doesn’t want to say “I told you so,” but the numbers are too obvious, a fact that seems to escape the Government‘s notice"
The hotel, restaurant and drinks sector registered 12,800 fewer jobs in the first quarter despite tourism supposedly booming and the economy getting back on its feet. The figure is 4.7% down on the same period last year, but more importantly it is down 12.6% on the previous quarter.
"Unfortunately, this is the reality faced by the Association’s member companies, daily closures and layoffs, depleted accounts, debt on debt, mortgaged assets, and desperate business owners who have no one to turn to," says the Association which highlights the issue of VAT now at 23%, a rate which it considers "absurd and disastrous" for this strategic sector of the Portuguese economy.
