Restaurant and accommodation sector loses 49,000 jobs in last 3 months

“41% of Catering and similar companies consider going insolvent and 19% of tourist accommodation goes in the same direction ”, said AHRESP.

The Portuguese Hotel, Restaurant and Similar Association (AHRESP) report that the sector lost 49 thousand jobs in the third quarter of this year, according to an open letter sent to the Prime Minister, António Costa.

“As of today, we already know that restaurants, similar establishments and accommodation lost more than 49,000 jobs in the 3rd quarter of 2020 (normal period of greatest employability) and according to the latest survey by AHRESP, 41% of the catering companies and Similars consider going insolvent and 19% of tourist accommodation goes in the same direction, “said the association.

“We know about the difficult and unstable scenario that we live in, we know that the current pandemic situation makes life difficult for everyone, but it is not possible to continue on this disastrous course for our economic activities”, reads in the letter.

AHRESP warns the Prime Minister that “with every fortnight that passes, economic agents see the rules of the game changed, with all the uncertainty and insecurity that this situation generates, to which they add all the costs that they face and have come to them to be demanded ”, according to the letter.

For the association, the new restrictions, which impose a “ban on circulation on public roads”, daily “in the period between 11 pm and 5 am, with the measure aggravated at weekends, when the circulation is prohibited from 1:00 pm to 5:00 am “are” an unprecedented attack “, taking into account that” many catering establishments and the like carry out a large part of their billing, precisely at the weekend “.

“We cannot understand that a series of exceptions are established, some of a comparable nature, as is the case of the movement exception for the purpose of traveling, for example, to supermarkets that, it should be noted, often have inside them all identical catering ”regrets AHRESP.

“On the other hand, there is no basis for traveling to grocery stores and other establishments selling food products, but not to restaurants and the like,” he says.

The restrictions “if they are absolutely fundamental to the current situation” must then “respect the principle of proportionality to the impact of the limitations imposed on us, with the urgent review and reinforcement of the support that are foreseen, based on the 10 measures that the AHRESP identified and presented them as the only possible ways to avoid mass insolvencies ”that will lead to a loss of thousands of jobs and a social crisis, warned the organization.

The entity recalled the measures that it has already proposed “and which involve non-repayable financing for micro, small and medium-sized companies, corresponding to 50% of the recorded revenue breakdown, due to the extension of the simplified lay-off until December 31, 2021 to inclusion of managing partners and exemption from TSU ”and the temporary reduction of the VAT rate on food and beverage services.

AHRESP also calls for the “exemption on rents in proportion to the monthly break in billing” and “exceptional measures for nightlife, which has been inactive since March 2020, as well as the implementation of new tax moratoriums and contributions, as well as all taxes and duties due until September 30, 2021 ”.

Finally, the association recalled “that this month is beginning a period of great burdens for companies, with the payment of wages and Christmas subsidies and the respective payment of taxes and social security contributions”.

Original article available in Portuguese at http://postal.pt/