Hotel Occupancy rises with Carnival and Valentine's Day

Source: Bomdia.Lu

The occupancy rate in hotels in Porto and the North of Portugal is around 75% for Carnival and Valentine's Day, linked to the mini-holidays, is boosting bookings.

“Hotel occupancy, even without the data being fully compiled, because bookings at this time are very much 'last minute', point to an average hotel occupancy in the destination around 75%, which we can consider to be interesting numbers,” a source from Tourism of Porto and North of Portugal (TPNP) told Lusa today.

Carnival is a traditionally festive season, but as it is not officially a holiday, this fact contributes to the demand not being as high as in other festive seasons, namely Christmas and New Year's Eve. However, as this year Valentine's Day “is attached to Carnival Day”, this factor helps “some national tourists and tourists from nearby markets, to take a few days off and boost tourist activity,” explained a source from TPNP.

At the Moov Porto Centro hotel, in Praça Batalha, in the downtown area of Porto, occupancy is around 60% and at Moov Porto Norte, in Matosinhos, occupancy is at 30%, said a source from that hotel chain. At Casa da Companhia Hotel, on Rua das Flores, in the heart of downtown Porto, the occupancy rate today is at 66%, with Saturday approaching 73%, and at the Fontinha hotel, near Rua de Santa Catarina, the traditional shopping street in Porto, it is at an occupancy rate of around 65%, with bookings reaching 75% for Saturday night of Carnival.

The president of TPNP, Luís Pedro Martins, states he is “once again excited and with great expectations” for the region's tourism this year of 2024, similar to 2023, in which Porto and the North ended the year with 6.9 million guests, 15% more than in 2022, and 13.3 million overnight stays, the highest national growth (14.9%).

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