Hoteliers expect bumper summer as bookings hit 50% – Azores popular destination

Most hotels in Portugal have summer bookings above 50% with hopes for a bumper summer according to a survey from the Portugal Hotel Association (AHP).

“Expectations for peak season from our hoteliers are very positive across the board”, said the president of the AHP, Cristina Siza Vieira in a press conference to present the findings of the survey on the ‘prospects for the summer’ carried out on its members.

Regarding June, 70% of those surveyed said the booking rate was between 50% and 89% with 43% of hoteliers who responded saying that the booking rate was above 70%.

Almost all the hoteliers in Madeira said bookings were over 70%, followed by the Azores with 86% of those surveyed having bookings over 70%.

The national figures for July show that 67% of those surveyed have booking rates of between 20% and 69%, but in the Azores almost all of those quizzed said bookings were above 70%, while in Madeira 98% of those canvassed have bookings above 50%.

Bookings for the Alentejo, however, are lacklustre with only half of those surveyed having bookings of over 20%, with the region having the lowest average bookings.

For August, considered the busiest month for tourism, 63% of those surveyed have bookings between 20% and 69%, with the Azores enjoying a bookings rate of over 70% for this summer.

Most hoteliers responded that they have bookings of over 70%. In Madeira and the Algarve, the vast majority has booking rates of over 50% for August.

The Alentejo continues to have the lowest booking rates for August with almost half of those surveyed registering bookings below 50%.

In the Azores, 71% of hoteliers have bookings of over 70% for August while in the Algarve half of those surveyed have bookings of over 50%.

As to the main markets, 73% puts the national market in the first three places, along with the UK (52% of the sample), Spain (45%), followed by the US (38%), and Germany (31%).