Bookings at hotels in the Algarve for the Easter mini-vacation anticipate a high occupancy in the region, a trend that should continue to grow until the summer period, sector officials told Lusa today.
Speaking to Lusa, the president of the Algarve Tourism Board (RTA), João Fernandes, said that at Easter there is an expectation that the Algarve will reach an occupancy rate per room above 90%, stressing that the month of April, in as a whole, should record occupancy rates per room between 65 and 70%.
The president of the Association of Hotels and Tourist Enterprises of the Algarve (AHETA), Hélder Martins, estimated that the sector has an occupancy per room of around 70% during Easter, which represents an increase of 3% over the same period. from 2022.
“The perspective we have is to go very close to 70% over the Easter weekend, which corresponds to an increase of 03% compared to 2022”, he told Lusa agency Hélder Martins, based on data obtained in a survey that the organization made to its associates last week.
For João Fernandes, 2023 will be “a year of records” in the sector, which is also due to the effort made in promoting the region, which has shown “successive records of passengers” disembarking at the airport of Faro, which now has 18 new routes, two of which start operating on Monday, one to Rome (Italy) and the other to Aahrus (Denmark).
“There are also several new features that the destination now has, in terms of connections, which correspond to a joint effort by Turismo do Algarve, Turismo de Portugal and ANA Aeroportos, and which translate into over 335.000 seats for the summer”, he quantified.
The president of AHETA recalled that Easter "lives a lot from the Spanish market", but underlined that the UK market is "preponderant" in the Algarve, to which must be added the French and Dutch, among other new markets, such as the north -American, which is on an upward trend, despite there being no direct flights to the Algarve.
According to the leader of the largest hotel association in the region, these tourists have arrived in the region even in low season, after having entered through Lisbon and Seville, however, he considered, it is important to consolidate this market, so that it can grow.
“It's not a market that comes and goes the next day. It is evident that for this market to consolidate, and it is an extremely important market, it is necessary to have flights and there are no flights, for the time being”, concluded Hélder Martins.
According to the president of Turismo do Algarve, reservations for Easter this year present “a component of greater stability” in relation to the percentage of reservations paid in advance, which are returning to the balance that existed before the covid-19 pandemic.
According to João Fernandes, around 30% of reservations for the Algarve are being paid in advance, and there is also a greater balance between reservations made directly by the tourist and reservations with intermediation, namely through travel agencies.
“Everything points to another year of records, but what tourism never tires of saying is that we are optimistic, but cautious, because obviously there is great instability at an international level and some expectations may be frustrated due to external factors”, concluded.
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