Hotel occupancy in the Algarve during the New Year festivities should be identical to 2012 as the 1st of January falls on a Wednesday and because the Portuguese continue to suffer from a distinct lack of spending money, according to the regional association of hoteliers’ president.
The often gloomy Elidérico Viegas said today that the year-end numbers are expected to be more or less identical to last year’s, but people will come for shorter stays as New Year’s Eve is on a Tuesday so people will not be staying on over a weeekend.
Viegas predicted that because of the day of the week, people will spend less time in the Algarve celebrating the event, with a consequent negative impact on the revenue of hotels and tourist developments in the region.
Continuing his moan about austerity measures not helping his members, Viegas commented "Unfortunately, as we know, the country's economic situation is not very favorable, austerity measures have contributed to people having to restraint their spending and this has been reflected in their spending on vacation, not just at the end of the year but throughout the year."
Asked about the importance of the extensive and well-targetted promotional activity undertaken by the Algarve Tourist board in form early November to attract tourists to the region on New Year's Eve, Viegas replied that all promotional activities that are intended to attract customers to the area are welcome but that he considered the promotional activity was ‘insufficient’ to counter the trend he described.
"The advertising campaigns to promote the Algarve region, especially to the home and the Spanish markets, are welcome and are expected to have an affect, but this does not detract from what I have just said," concluded Viegas.
