Local Accommodation generates €432 million in 2019

Air BnB style local accommodation in Portugal should give the Portuguese economy a boost of €432 million by the end of the year.

This is according to a study made for the second year running by the Lusófono University’s Humanities and Technology Department for the online holiday accommodation specialists HomeAway on the profiles of Portuguese nationals who choose local accommodation establishments.
The study questioned 1000 people aged between 18-65 who stayed in local accommodation in Portugal at least once in the period of August 2018 and September 2019.
During the study period, this type of accommodation was sought after by around 1.9 million travellers, with an estimated daily spend per person of €637.74, an amount that includes average costs such as the room, food and eating out, cultural activities and local transport.
Given these numbers, the study estimates that total expenditure associated with local accommodation generates an economic impact of around €432 euros.
The main customers of LA were families (42.1%), followed by couples (39.5%) and groups of friends (17.5%) and the regions of Portugal that were most sought after were the Algarve (25.1%), North (22.4%), Centro (19.3%) and Alentejo (18.2%).
Like last year, the results showed that the internet continues to be the preferred method of the Portuguese to make bookings (62.2%) followed by phone (20.6%).
Over 30% of Portuguese tourists consulted internet sites specialising in local accommodation while 21.6% was based on recommendations from friends or acquaintances.
The most important criteria when choosing accommodation were location (53.4%), price (50.2%) and the surrounding area and how it affects the lodgings (34.2%).
“The study showed that local accommodation continues to show sustained growth which is 2018 was 16.6%, which shows the remarkable degree of maturity that the sector now shows in Portugal,” states the study.
What the study didn’t appear to do, however, is take a snapshot of overseas visitors coming to Portugal and staying in local accommodation.