In 2024, Portuguese tourist accommodation will record, on average, revenue per occupied room (ADR) - one of the most important metrics in the sector that measures price evolution - of 160.46 euros, according to data provided to Lusa by the consultancy CoStar, which specialises in hotels, based on Eurostat publications.

This value corresponds to an increase of 6.8%, above inflation, and places Portugal in the TOP 10 markets with the most expensive prices for overnight stays in hotels and tourist accommodations (AL).

The first places are occupied by Cyprus (288.62 euros), Greece (230.11 euros), Italy (222.44 euros), France (183.96 euros), Croatia (175.85 euros), Malta (171.96 euros) and Ireland (169.32 euros). Spain (158.06 euros) and Luxembourg (149.85 euros) round out the top ten.

However, the biggest increases were seen in Russia (+15.2% to 97.27 euros), Serbia (+12.9% to 126.27 euros) and Greece (+12.4%). On the contrary, Israel led the declines by recording a 9.5% drop in revenue per occupied room to R$226.98.

Analysing the full list of 43 European countries in the CoStar study, which includes the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Russia, for example, Portugal came in 13th, an increase of two places compared to 2023. In this case, Monaco leads (572.74 euros), followed by Iceland (292.33 euros), Cyprus, Switzerland (262.08 euros) and Greece.

However, analysing the most recent data for February this year, low tourist season, Portugal's trajectory is in the opposite direction, having fallen nine places to 22nd position, with 108.88 euros. However, even so, this value represents a 1.6% increase in revenue obtained per occupied room compared to the same period last year.

This data is in line with the trend recently highlighted by the executive vice-president of the Portuguese Hotel Association (AHP), Cristina Siza Vieira, that the sector is growing more in value than in occupancy rate.

“We are growing more in value than in occupancy rate. It is not the growth we had until 2022, after the pandemic, in 2023 there was a slowdown in growth and in 2024 as well”, said the person in charge last week during the presentation of a survey by AHP to its members.

According to the same study, 56% of respondents anticipate better revenues this year and 33% expect them to be identical to those in 2024. Among the points that are leading the sector to be more cautious for 2025, Cristina Siza Vieira highlighted the uncertainty regarding US trade policy, which will have impacts worldwide, such as the likely slowdown in tourism demand in the US, but which could be offset by domestic demand in Europe and other destinations such as the Asian market.

North American tourists have contributed to growth Last year, 5.1 million of the overnight stays by non-residents in Portugal were by tourists from the USA, which represents a growth of 12% compared to 2023 and around 9% of the total, which exceeded 56 million (+4.7%), according to data from INE.

The United Kingdom, with more than 10 million overnight stays, Germany, with 6.3 million, and Spain, with 5.4 million, occupied the Top 3.