Overnight stays up 27% in March to 5.1M
Compared to March 2019, the pre-pandemic period, there were increases of 36.2% in total income and 40.1% in bedroom income.
Portugal’s tourist accommodation sector had 2.1 million guests in March, up 30.8% compared to the same month last year, and 5.1 million overnight stays, an increase of 26.7%, INE said on Monday.
According to Statistics Portugal (INE), these indicators corresponded to 338.0 million euros of total income and 250.9 million euros of bedroom income, representing year-on-year increases of 45.1% and 49.0%, respectively.
Compared to March 2019, the pre-pandemic period, there were increases of 36.2% in total income and 40.1% in bedroom income.
In the accumulated first quarter of 2023, total overnight stays grew by 40.9% (+22.5% in residents and +51.6% in non-residents), which corresponded to increases of 61.0% in total income and 64.0% in bedroom income (+35.5% and +39.9%, respectively, compared to the 1st quarter of 2019).
In March, the average revenue per available room (RevPAR) stood at €43.50, while the average revenue per occupied room (ADR) reached €87.70, corresponding to increases of 39.7% and 18.6%, in the same order, compared to March 2022.
Already compared to the same month of 2019, RevPAR increased by 28.9% and ADR by 23.2%.
In March, among the municipalities with greater representation in the total number of overnight stays, INE states that “Albufeira continued to stand out, with a reduction of 15.1% compared to 2019 (-14.0% in residents and -15.3% in non-residents)”.
“On the contrary, in Funchal, there were significant increases, mainly in resident overnight stays that doubled compared to March 2019,” it adds.
In the month under review, the Lisbon Metropolitan Area concentrated 38.3% of total revenues and 40.5% of those related to rooms, followed by the Algarve (17.9% and 16.5%, respectively), the North (16.1% and 16.4%) and the Autonomous Region of Madeira (14.0% and 13.5%).
INE highlights that the largest increases occurred in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (+57.1% in total revenues and +60.6% in room revenues), the Autonomous Region of the Azores (+47.5% and +43.1%, respectively), the North (+45.0% and +46.5%) and the Autonomous Region of Madeira (+42.3% and +51.9%).
Compared to March 2019, the developments in the Autonomous Regions of the Azores (+52.1% and +50.2%, respectively) and Madeira (+48.1% and +59.6%, in the same order) stand out.
According to INE, the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon also stood out for the growth in the cumulative revenues in the first quarter of 2023 (+82.2% in total revenues and +84.8% in room revenues), followed by the Autonomous Region of Madeira (+63.5% and +73.1%, in the same order) and the North (+54.6% and +55.8%, respectively).
Considering the generality of the means of accommodation (tourist accommodation establishments, camping and holiday camps and youth hostels), in the first quarter of 2023, there were 5.4 million guests and 13.5 million overnight stays, corresponding to growths of 40.1% and 39.6%, respectively.
Compared with the first quarter of 2019, the number of overnight stays increased by 14.2% (+17.0% for residents and +12.9% for non-residents).
