Portugal's restaurant sector in dire straits

According to the monthly survey by the Portuguese Association of Hotels, Restaurants and Similar Establishments (AHRESP), almost 40% of catering businesses and 18% of tourist accommodation are planning to close their doors.

Portugal's restaurant industry in dire straits

The pandemic will have a negative impact on the hotel and catering sector, 38% of these companies are considering insolvency, given that the vast majority of them say they will no longer be able to support their usual expenses.

The fall in sales in June was spectacular, with more than 24% of them recording losses in excess of 40% and 22% of them with annual losses in excess of 60% and 12% with a drop in excess of 90%.

According toAHRESP 87% of companies are using the Lay-off, 93% of them extended it in May, 76% in June and around 69% intend to extend it until July. 54% of companies declare that without this aid, they would have been unable to pay wages.

The survey also reveals that over 17% of companies have been unable to make wage payments, and 15% have only partially paid their employees.

AHRESP also reports that over 22% of companies believe they will not be able to retain all jobs by the end of the year, and 70% of companies still don't know if they will be able to maintain their activities.

Tourist accommodations are no better off

As regards tourist accommodation businesses, up to the end of June, 24% of businesses remained closed, over 47% of them recorded no bookings, and 41% reported occupancy of up to 25% maximum. the

Now that the summer period has begun (July - September), the results are already very worrying, as 46% of companies are not expecting an occupancy rate higher than 25%. In view of this scenario, 18% of companies are considering going into receivership, if they are unable to cope with future expenses, and 45% are unsure whether to go insolvent or not.

At present, 42% of companies have used the lay-off, 76% have extended it into May , 70% into June and around 60% intend to extend it into July .

The AHRESP survey of companies took place between June 29 and July 1, and included 1,418 responses.