According to the Associação de Hotelaria de Portugal (AHP), some 54% of hotel owners believe the occupancy rate will be the same as last year with the central region the most optimistic (43% estimate there will be an improvement)and Madeira the most pessimistic (47% believing it will be worse).

The occupancy rates will be over 80% was the belief of 86% of the hotels in the Algarve, 75% in Lisbon, 64% in the Azores and 53% in the north of the country, the AHP said following a survey.

The hotel owners also expect the domestic market along with Spain and France to be the main markets this summer.