Pestana looks for more US hotels as demand grows

Portugal’s Pestana Group is looking for more hotels in the United States after its existing operations there performed strongly, chief executive José Theotónio said in the Transatlantic Talks podcast by ECO and AmCham Portugal. US travellers have become a higher-value market for Portugal’s tourism sector and a growing source of demand for hotel groups and airlines.

Theotónio said Pestana’s four US hotels — in Miami, New York and Orlando — are doing “quite well”, and that the experience is encouraging the group to expand further. He said some assets already on the market have been identified, although no decision has yet been taken. Pestana’s next major opening, he added, will be in Paris around March, making France the group’s 17th country.

American visitors are already the largest source of guests for Pestana’s hotels in Portugal, with particular weight in Lisbon and Porto. Theotónio said they account for about 12% of total guests, but are the biggest market in the group’s five-star city hotels. He also said US demand had posted double-digit growth until 2025, although this year Lisbon hotels have seen some decline, which he linked to stronger competition and capacity constraints at Lisbon airport.

The trend is also supporting airlines. Miguel Mota, Portugal sales manager for Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines, said Delta has steadily increased capacity on its Portugal-US routes, including the launch this year of a Porto-New York service that has now been extended to December because of strong occupancy. He added that growth in US tourism and TAP’s US network are among the factors behind Air France-KLM’s interest in the privatisation of the Portuguese airline.

Originally published at Eco.pt