Vila Galé profits grow 6% in 2018

The Portuguese hotel group Vila Galé saw its profits grow 6% in 2018 with revenues of €112 million.

Vila Galé’s results were presented on Wednesday last week when the group’s CEO, Gonçalo Rebelo de Almeida said that the chain’s financial objective for 2018 had been to maintain the positive results it enjoyed in 2017 of €106 million.

This had been achieved. The increase was in spite of various factors that slowed projected growth over the year including instability in the British market over Brexit uncertainties as well as the resurgence of North African markets such as Egypt and Tunisia and increased confidence in the Turkish market.

The group also faced stiff competition from destinations like the Algarve and Madeira with similar hotel units offering all-inclusive family holidays but nevertheless suffered a downturn as holiday operators TUI and Thomas Cook “focused part of their operations on these competing North Africa destinations.”

The result was that in 2018 Vila Galé in Portugal registered a slight downturn in room occupation rates but the average overall price rose by 7% thanks to measures the group undertook such as the “creation of superior rooms, strategies with distribution channels and price readjustments.”

Regarding markets, Portugal remains Vila Galé’s main market with 30% of its hotel rooms, followed by the UK market which fell 8% in 2018, German, Spanish and French.