In comments to journalists in Lisbon, the AHP’s president, Cristina Siza Vieira, said that the association had been contacted by companies interested in opening hotels with as many as 300 beds.
The latest figures for overnight stays, for March, showed good increases in various indicators, meaning a “very positive outlook for April”, which this year included Easter.
In March, the occupancy rate in Portugal’s hotels was up 1.9 percentage points, while the average price per room was up 5 percent. The Costa Azul tourism region, the coast south of Lisbon, showed particularly strong increases from a relatively low base.
In terms of the nationalities of hotel guests, the UK once more led the pack, followed by Germany and Spain. Brazil showed a 60 percent year-on-year increase, while the number of overnight stays by people from the US jumped 29 percent.