According to Cristina Siza Vieira, it is “evident that the price increase is already happening. Even during the pandemic it was not the price that dropped, but the occupancy rate,” she highlighted. “There was no sacrifice in price and now much less, you cannot internalise these costs” and “it is normal” that they are reflected in customers, she underlined, noting that the cost of raw materials, wages and food has increased and that “the price of accommodation will continue to go up and is already going up”.

High expectations

“This year we estimate a recovery, after a very bad December, January and February. We expect that from March there would be some recovery and that we could close the year at 80%, 85% of 2019 revenues,” she said.

“It is a fact that the recovery started last year, or in the summer. First in Madeira, then in the Algarve, then in the cities, with Lisbon and Porto, with the interior always having more affluence and maintaining good demand”, however, when it was starting to recover, “the fifth wave came and created a very difficult situation.”