Excerpt from CoStar
Hotel performance in Portugal is on track to reach 2019 levels by 2023, with the luxury segment expected to lead the way in 2022.
Improving trends in performance, as well as a slate of luxury hotel openings in the country, have given tourism officials in Portugal confidence that travel and hospitality revenues will rebound to pre-pandemic levels by 2023.
In a sign that demand for hotels is growing, new luxury hotels that had delayed opening due to the pandemic are finally starting to welcome guests this year.
Discovery Hotel Management, which has a portfolio of 18 hotels spread across Portugal, opened two new properties in 2021 — the Évora Farm Hotel & Spa in the Alentejo region and the Patio Suite Hotel in the Algarve.
The company also is in the final phase of defining a new hotel concept it plans to debut in the Colares region of Portugal.
One of Lisbon’s most-anticipated hotel openings in 2021 was The Ivens, a luxury property themed around famous Portuguese explorers.
The upscale Lumen Hotel, which offers a nightly video-mapping light show, also made its debut in the summer of 2021.
“We opened our doors on July 21, right in the middle of the pandemic, which was a very troubled and difficult time,” said Sérgio Bernardo, general manager of the Lumen Hotel. “Nevertheless, the expectations were far exceeded, once the hotel’s occupancy rate reached above the most optimistic forecasts prior to the opening."
The first W Hotel in Portugal will open in the Algarve this spring, as well as the first luxury hotel in Ericeira, a fishing village 30 miles northeast of Lisbon that is mostly known for its surfing scene.
Discovery Hotel Management CEO Luís Mexia Alves said he is optimistic about the hotel sector in Portugal, predominantly within the luxury segment.
“We are equally realistic and at times still remain uncertain. However, the past two years have pushed us to adapt and become flexible in comparison to how we operated pre-pandemic,” he said.
Data from STR, CoStar's hospitality analytics firm, and Turismo de Portugal show positive trends in hotel performance across Portugal. Tourism in Portugal has suffered significantly during the pandemic from travel restrictions in the United Kingdom, its largest feeder market.
In the first nine months of 2021, revenue for tourist accommodations in Portugal exceeded the total for full-year 2020, although it was still half the value for the same period in 2019. Room nights for October and November surpassed June and July figures.
Since August, hotel revenue has surpassed 2019 levels in Madeira, which comprises four islands off the northwest coast of Africa and is one of two autonomous regions of Portugal.
Rooms revenue increased in August by 7%, in September by 4.2% and in October by 11.9%.
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