These data were found by AHP, after a survey conducted between 7 and 21 June and which counted with valid responses from 610 hotel units distributed throughout the country.

Thus, for August, usually one of the best months for tourism, the forecast for bookings is 46 percent, decreasing to 37 percent in September and registering a slight improvement to 50 percent in October.

“Amongst the main conclusions of the survey, we highlight the high prevalence of refundable reservations, the decrease in group reservations, which represent less than 20 percent of the total for 71 percent of respondents, and the rescheduling and use of ‘vouchers’ of postponed reservations from the previous year is below 20 percent, which demonstrates the preference for reimbursement.”

The executive vice-president of AHP, Cristina Siza Vieira, who presented the survey, also highlighted that 68 percent of respondents said they intended to strengthen their teams by hiring temporary workers.

However, of those 68 percent, 64 percent say they are “having great difficulty in hiring workers to respond” to this period, particularly in the Algarve, Centre and Alentejo regions, pointing to the change of area of various professionals and the unemployment benefits that some are still receiving.