15-05-2015 - In March 2015, the occupancy rate and the RevPAR were the highest among the Portuguese regions

[NOTE: As mentioned in the press release of the previous month, due to methodological changes in the survey on accommodation establishments determined by Statistics Portugal (INE), from now on DREM will publish the preliminary results 45 days after the end of the period of reference and the provisional results 75 days after the end of the month of reference.Please notice that data for January was revised.]

In March 2015

Occupancy rate and RevPAR were the highest among the Portuguese regions

Initial estimates for March 2015 show increases in the tourism indicators with positive year-on-year rates of change in overnight stays (+6.3%), total revenue (+12.4%) and lodging revenue (+15.6%).

At the country level, the rates of change stood at 11.5% in nights spent, 14.0% in total revenue and 15.6% in revenue from accommodation.

Looking at the data broken down by market, it should be highlighted that the year-on-year change rates in nights spent by the Portuguese and foreign tourists were -6.1% and +7.5%, respectively.

In the first three months of 2015, the overnight stays increased by 6.8% when compared to the same period of 2014, while the growth in total revenue (+9.8%) and lodging revenue (+12.3%) was more pronounced.

The net bed occupancy rate in the reference month reached 60.8%, 2.9 percentage points higher than a year before. and

The average income per room (RevPAR) recorded a year-on-year change rate of +15.1%, increasing to € 40.11.As in the case of the net bed occupancy rate, the RevPAR value was the highest among the seven NUTS2 Portuguese regions.

More rounds played in Madeira’s golf courses

The data from the Golf Course Survey show that the number of rounds played in the three golf courses of the Autonomous Region of Madeira in the first three months of 2015 stood at 13,843 (+10.1% compared to the corresponding period of 2014). 68.3% of those rounds were played by non-members, mainly coming from Nordic countries, Germany and UK. 47.0% of the total rounds were sold by tour operators, 26.6% by hotel establishments and similar and the remaining 26.4% by the golf courses themselves.

Number of transit passengers aboard cruise ships in Madeira’s ports increased

According to the data provided by the Port’s authority, 171,170 transit passengers aboard cruise ships were counted in the January to March 2015 period, increasing by 7.6% year-on-year.