The economy minister this Tuesday defended a balance between solving the country’s housing problem and expectations for local accommodation, on the sidelines of a tourism conference, which criticized the measure to limit those spaces.
“We have to balance the housing problems, which are absolutely central to our country, and also the expectations that have been raised in terms of local housing, which I am particularly concerned about in areas outside major metropolitan areas, where many people invested its capital gains and therefore had expectations,” said the Minister of Economy and Sea.
António Costa Silva spoke on the sidelines of the first VisitPortugal conference in Lisbon on the tourism sector, where voices emerged criticizing measures of the government’s Mais Habitação program, namely its intention to restrict local accommodation spaces.
The official also said public discussion of the program could lead the government to “fine-tune and calibrate” the measures that can be taken on housing.
“I think there should be a balance between solving the housing problem and developing other economic activities,” he stressed.
Asked for the statements of the President of the Association of Directors of Hotels in Portugal (ADHP), Fernando Garrido, who, in an interview with Lusa, defended the valuation of professions to attract workers and students to a sector that is not considered ” sexy,” Costa Silva recalled that there are “multiple programs” to invest in hotel jobs, emphasizing that “without a well-trained workforce” there will be no “consistent growth of the tourism industry.”
“GDP [produto interno bruto] reached more than 210,000 million euros last year, tourism has made an invaluable contribution and the country must continue to grow and grow for the future, not only in terms of tourism, but also in other sectors,” he stressed the Minister of Economy .
For Costa Silva it is necessary “to aim now for 250,000 million euros”. “For that, we need to boost the country, boost all sectors, have government policies that are even friendlier and that manage to make this transformation,” he added.
The National Institute of Statistics (INE) has today confirmed GDP growth of 6.7% in 2022, the highest since 1987, maintaining the growth variation of 31 January, which is one-tenth below the government’s forecast .
The Statistical Authority also announced today that the tourism lodging sector has surpassed pre-pandemic levels in January, with 1.5 million guests and 3.5 million overnight stays, 3.2% and 6.5% more than the same period of 2020 .
Source: DN
