The data stems from a monthly survey for April published by the Association of Hotels, Restaurants and Similar Establishments of Portugal, which registered improvements as the end of the lockdown progresses.
Following more than a year with huge losses and even despite some optimism, the post-pandemic outlook is still worrying. According to AHRESP, the government is expected to maintain outright grants for cash flow and guaranteeing employment.
After the second lockdown, April probably marked the beginning of the recovery. Although still showing some worrying signs, the AHRESP monthly survey for the month of April showed an improvement on previous surveys. Even so, 26% of Restaurant and Food Service companies and 11% of Accommodation companies still intend to file for insolvency.
In the survey, 19% of the Tourist Accommodation companies indicated that they were not currently in operation, 43% had no occupancy, and 27% indicated an occupancy rate of less than 10%.
As for May, 32% of the companies in the sector forecast a zero per cent occupancy rate, and 28% of the companies foresee a maximum occupancy of 10%, with 11% of the companies considering insolvency due to not being able to bear their normal operating costs.
The drop in receipts in April was over 90% for 40% of the companies surveyed. As a consequence of the decline in revenue, 22% of the companies were unable to pay their employees in March, while 5% made partial payments.
About 30% of companies in the sector have already laid off staff since the beginning of the pandemic. Of these, 25% have reduced their workforce by more than 50% and 4% of companies assume that they will not be able to maintain all jobs until the end of June.
