Increased Travel Demand In Portugal Reveals That The Tourism Industry Needs 85,000 More Workers

The rise in travel demand in Portugal in the second half of 2021 highlighted the reality that the country is short 85,000 people in the travel and tourism sector.

According to SchengenVisaInfo.com, such an estimate was reached in a recent report by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), which also stated that such figures could have a “significant impact” on the country’s economic sector and would help to manage the crisis that this sector is facing because of the devastating situation caused by the virus.

As per the WTTC research, the increase in travel demand, particularly during the high summer season, has made it harder to hire individuals in this industry. From a business perspective, the scarcity of workers in the travel and tourism industry has reached 85,000 in 2021.

“Portugal’s economic recovery could be at risk if we do not have enough people to fill those jobs when tourists return,” the President of the WTTC, Julia Simpson, pointed out in this regard.

The scarcity of workers in this industry jeopardizes the future of many enterprises that are already struggling.

Furthermore, despite the country’s authorities’ efforts made in 2020 and 2021 to cope with the current pandemic crisis, the corporation stated that a total of 92,000 employees working in the travel and tourist industry had lost their employment.

Previously, Eurostat, the source of the European statistics, stated that the spread of the Coronavirus and its novel strains had had a significant impact on the European tourism sector.

According to Eurostat, the number of nights spent by European Union visitors in establishments declined by 61% between April 2020 and March 2021, accounting for a total of 1.1 billion tourists.

The most dramatic drop was observed in Malta, Spain, Greece, Portugal, and Hungary, with each of these nations seeing a drop of more than 60%.