The importance of local accommodation

After the Mais Habitação program, much has been said about the importance of Local Accommodation for the national economy, not only for the owners, but also for the number of jobs that LAs generate directly and indirectly. To prove everything that has been speculated, ALEP (Associação do Alojamento Local em Portugal) commissioned a study from Nova SBE, which concludes that local accommodation has been an important driver of the national economy. In this study, imagining the end of Local Accommodation, it was found that in order to accommodate all the tourists who sleep in LA units, 1,030 hotels would have to be built across the country. In Lisbon, 211 hotels would have to be built, in Porto 168 and in the Algarve region 169. This study indicates that it would be necessary to increase the traditional hotel offer by more than 50% so that it could accommodate all the tourists who currently visit the country and choose to stay in LA. The study, entitled “Assessing the Impact of Local Accommodation in Portugal”, is signed by economists Pedro Brinca, João Bernardo Duarte and João Pedro Ferreira. With these figures, the study states that “it is not possible to sustain tourism’s contribution to the Portuguese economy without LA”, even through an “increase in hotel occupancy rates, nor through the construction of new hotels”. Even if the occupancy rate were to rise to “unprecedented figures”, it would “always be limited to less than 15 million overnight stays”, below the 38 million overnight stays recorded between 2019 and 2022. Furthermore, considering the importance of Local Accommodation for Portugal, this activity represents more than half of the family budget for 39% of owners. Presenting the final conclusions of the study, economist and researcher at the Nova School of Business & Economics Pedro Brinca pointed out that 46% of local accommodation in Portugal generates less than 20,000 euros a year for its owners. At the same time, this income represents “more than 60% of the family budget” for 39% of those surveyed in the study, which is based on 1,820 responses from owners and managers. Further reinforcing the importance of Local Accommodation, based on 2019 data, the study estimates that the sector is responsible for 306,096 direct and indirect jobs (which represents 6.18% of the national total). In other words, almost four jobs are created for every local accommodation unit. As far as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is concerned, the contribution of spending by tourists staying in LAs in 2019 amounted to 9.9 billion euros (4.64% of national GDP). The study also concludes that local accommodation “is a reality throughout the national territory”, with Lisbon and Porto concentrating “only” 26% (17% and 9% respectively).