Hoteliers in the Algarve want to build housing to hire workers and combat the lack of labor in the tourism sector and are asking the Government to make land available at affordable prices, the president of the region’s largest hotel association said this Friday.
Speaking to Lusa, the president of the Association of Hotels and Tourist Enterprises of the Algarve (AHETA), Hélder Martins, regretted that the request “made repeatedly, for at least two years, to several ministers and secretaries of State, has not yet had reception”.
“We have been asking for a pool of available land to be created that can be made available at acceptable, non-market prices, to build housing considered social to employ hotel employees”, he said.
According to Hélder Martins, the lack of “decent and affordable housing is the first problem to combat the lack of labor in tourism and to retain talent in the region”, which is struggling with the lack of workers to the sector.
“In the last two years alone, I have presented the proposal to several ministers and secretaries of State, but to date we have not received any response, despite everyone considering the proposal very good”, highlighted the businessman.
The AHETA leader considers that “this is the ideal time” to meet the hoteliers’ wishes, given that the review of municipal master plans (PDM), planning and territorial planning instruments, is underway.
“We consider it the ideal time to introduce this aim: the creation of a land exchange to be sold outside market prices and for the construction of housing within the social housing regime”, he reinforced.
The objective “is that housing of various types can be built, outside areas of tourist influence, four or five kilometers away from the hotel, to later be made available to employees”, he explained.
The official said he hoped that the proposal, also presented to the parties during the electoral campaign, “can be followed up in the short term, as all parties have expressed their agreement”.
Solving the problem of the lack of housing in the Algarve has also become a priority strategy for hotel entrepreneurs, when recruiting labor for the sector, a problem that has been getting worse in recent years.
