Lisbon hotels almost completely full for Easter
"Hotels are practically full. What little is left will be filled with last minute bookings, but expectations will be the same as last year: almost 100%”, said the Lisbon Regional Tourism Authority.
The president of the Lisbon Regional Tourism Authority, Carla Salsinha, told Lusa news agency that the organisation and the sector expect a hotel occupancy rate of almost 100% for the Easter period.
Carla Salsinha said that the hotel sector does not yet have concrete figures, but expectations are “high”, emphasising that it will be an Easter with many tourists in the capital, but also in the 18 municipalities of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area.
“Hotels are practically full. What little is left will be filled with last minute bookings, but a priori, (…) expectations will be the same as last year: almost 100% and the result of bookings that are very last minute,” she said.
According to the president of the Regional Tourism Authority of the Lisbon Region, the majority of Easter tourists are not Portuguese but Spanish, who “fill the region”.
“Lisbon has a high number of guests and overnight stays, but it’s also starting to spread the tourists to the surrounding municipalities. They are all offering hotel units and accommodation capacity. In 2023, we had one municipality that had no overnight stays, in other words, one hotel unit, and today all of Lisbon’s 18 municipalities already have hotel units,” she emphasised.
According to Carla Salsinha, more and more hotels are opening in Lisbon’s various municipalities.
“In the ranking of Lisbon’s municipalities, we have the capital in first place, followed by Cascais, Sintra, Oeiras, and Almada. These municipalities are redeveloping their spaces, offering quality tourism and preserving their cultures and traditions. Almada is now known for its urban art and its festivals,” she said.
According to Carla Salsinha, the municipalities have such a great offer that tourists, even if they stay in Lisbon, want to discover other offers.
“For example, Oeiras has a good offer today. You can visit a winery with Oeiras wine, which is starting to make a name for itself. All the municipalities are starting to have such a differentiated offer and even very niche products, meaning Lisbon is always growing,” she emphasised.
According to Carla Salsinha, this growth has occurred over the last two years. “It’s the result of a lot of work being done by the municipalities to publicise what exists outside the city of Lisbon”.
