Mario Centeno defends the importance of tourism for the country’s growth

This Friday, the governor of Banco de Portugal defended the importance of tourism to Portugal, denying that its weight could be a problem and stressing that it is not the sector that creates the most jobs.

Mario Centeno spoke during the presentation of the June Economic Bulletin at the Museum of Money in Lisbon.

“Tourism in particular has played a very important and indispensable role in the Portuguese economy throughout 2022. I don’t see any problem with that,” he said.

According to the governor of Banco de Portugal (BdP), “tourism is an important sector of the Portuguese economy.”

“There is no tourism for those who want, there is tourism for those who can. It would be bad for us if we did not take advantage of our natural, cultural and atmospheric traditions in a sustainable way. Tourism is part of us. Those who do not want this should choose other living conditions,” he said.

During the presentation of the upward revision to more than 2% growth of the Portuguese economy until 2025, Mario Centeno emphasized that the two main drivers of the economy are exports, which include tourism, and investment.

However, Centeno stressed that this is not the sector that contributed to the creation of more jobs between 2019 and 2022.

He noted that between 2019 and 2023, employment grew by 12%, which corresponds to more than 348,000 jobs, excluding public administration.

“The sectors that contributed the most to job growth are the sectors of information, communications, real estate, consulting and science,” he said, justifying this by saying that if in 2019 these sectors accounted for 10.8%, then the growth was 35% (there were over 112,000 jobs), above the average for the Portuguese economy.

According to the head of the central bank, the average salary in this sector is 1,806 euros, which is 24% more than in 2019.

“On the contrary, in the field of accommodation, catering and transport, 44 thousand people grew. [postos] in terms of employment, growth of 9%, less than the national average. These industries accounted for 15% of employment in 2019, and the average salary was 1,197 thousand euros, an increase of 16%,” he said.

Centeno is convinced that there is a “quiet revolution”, that is, a “transformation of qualifications in Portugal”.

“For this revolution to succeed, the demand for companies must match the supply that families create in Portugal, because families always invest in training. The industries that are growing the most are the industries that need the most skill,” he emphasizes. . . .