Lack of manpower is a "structural problem" of the Algarve hotel industry

The lack of manpower in quantity and quality to meet the needs of the hospitality and tourism sector is one of the main "structural problems" of the l & # 39; Association of Hotels and Tourist Enterprises of the Algarve (AHETA)

The main hotel association of the Algarve has emphasized the importance of the "human factor" for the regional hospitality sector , as well as its "crucial role" in the "quality of services", and considered that the "bottlenecks" "Largely because of the lack of ancestral mobility between residential areas having the higher concentration of workers and their workplaces located outside urban areas. "

"At the time when city councils are preparing to review municipal planners, AHETA is calling local authorities to active housing at controlled costs, in order to motivate and attract the labor from other parts of the country, but also from third-country immigrants, "said the Algarve business association in a statement

AHETA and D & # 39; "important investments" that the hotel facilities have made to "fill these gaps" and to provide "if possible accommodation and other facilities to their workers", but acknowledged that they "have not enough to solve the huge "

Therefore, the association considers necessary" to establish partnerships between the public sector and the private sector "to" restore the loyalty of workers towards tourism and business ", using" continuous training actions during the training No. "Stable and stable teams throughout the year."

"Will improve the quality of services provided and increase their level of productivity and, as a result, business profitability and regional competitiveness of tourism and national. "

The Algarve association also considered that labor law and the return to a protectionist past in terms of labor legislation, as claimed by some political and trade union forces, can not be used as a basis for the labor market. excuse to overcome the bottlenecks that the country in general and the Algarve in particular have been facing lately, "

" It is for these reasons that the state is required, on the one hand, to introduce measures to improve the business environment in the tourism sector and, on the other hand, to solve social problems and welfare. to be resident populations. "

The Algarve business association has therefore defended the need to" allow "the controlled importation of foreign labor to work in the economy, in general, and in tourism in the Algarve, in particular. "