More than half of hoteliers consider operations to have already returned to 2019 levels – HR

More than half of the respondents surveyed by the Associação da Hotelaria de Portugal (AHP) consider that the operation has already returned to the levels of 2019, before the pandemic, and 25% say that only in the second half of this year, according to the data released by the “Balanço” survey. 2022 & Perspectives 2023″.

According to the “Balanço 2022 & Perspectivas 2023” survey, presented in Lisbon by AHP Executive Vice President Cristina Siza Vieira, of the 375 hotel establishments that responded to the survey (40% of members), 54% said they had already done so. It reached operating levels recorded in 2019, the best tourism year in Portugal before the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020.

Already 25% of respondents expect to reach 2019 levels in the second half of this year, while 9% expect to achieve it in the first half.

“2022 was undoubtedly a good year compared to 2021, which is normal, because 2021 was still a pandemic year, but even compared to 2019, so it wasn’t just a strong year from a recovery point of view. Cristina Siza Vieira said, speaking to Reporters, at the end of the show, said it was a very strong recovery.

Similar to the results already presented by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) and Turismo de Portugal, the hotel survey shows, according to the official, that “2022 was an interesting year”, with growth in terms of prices exercising practically the entire territory and “with some explosions as it The case in Madeira.

Cristina Siza Vieira noted that the growth in prices reflected increased inflation, but it also followed “demand growth”.

According to the survey, in 2022 the occupancy rate in national hotels is 61%, while the national average price per room (RevPAR) is 73 euros.

In terms of markets, 87% of respondents placed Portugal among the top three exporters, 46% Spain and 37% the United Kingdom.

On the other hand, the USA featured as the top three markets in the responses of 33% of those surveyed by AHP.

“The bet on the US market is a good bet, it has already given some interesting results, because the US market is responding,” confirmed the executive vice president of the association.

According to INE, which also considers hotel establishments, villages, apartments and tourist farms in Madeira, income from the tourist accommodation sector in 2022 more than doubled compared to 2021 and exceeded 2019 levels, as a result of increases of more than 80% in the number of guests and overnight stays.

Compared to 2019, the highest growth was recorded in the Autonomous Region of Madeira (+ 29.8% in total revenue and + 36.6% in revenue from accommodation). Total revenue and revenue from accommodation grew less in the center (+9.3% and +14.4%, respectively) and in the Área Metropolitana de Lisboa (+11.5% and +12.8%, in the same order).

Last year, average income per available room (RevPAR) was €56.2 and increased by 72.5%, with growth of 74.8% in hotels, 81.6% in domestic accommodation and 18.8% in rural tourism and housing. .

The average occupied room income amounted to 103.9 euros and increased by 17.7%, with an increase of 16.4% in hotels, 31.6% in domestic housing and 7.6% in rural tourism and housing.