AL establishments continue to attract tourists, registering 10.8 million overnight stays in 2023 up until November, a new historic high.Throughout 2023, Local Accommodation (AL) gave a lot to talk about, with the Government claiming that this short-term home rental business contributes to the rise in housing prices in the country, it decided to tighten the clampdown on the activity with Mais Habitação, a package that came into force on October 7th. Despite the controversies, AL establishments continued to attract Portuguese and foreign tourists to such an extent that, one month before the end of the year, a historic maximum of 10.8 million overnight stays in these accommodations has already been recorded in 2023.
As Idealista reported in a summary, Local Accommodation was in the “eye of the storm” of the Government throughout the year, which even ended up implementing several measures that restrict the activity. In Mais Habitação, for example, an extraordinary contribution of 15% was included on AL located on the coast; the obligation to prove that the AL is in activity in order to maintain a license until 2030 (then renewable every 5 years); or even the suspension of new AL licenses for high-density territories.
Despite AL in Portugal being surrounded by controversy, tourists continued to choose this type of tourist accommodation to spend the night in Portugal. Specifically, these temporary accommodations – such as houses, apartments, hostels, among others, with 10 or more beds – recorded around 10.7 million overnight stays between January and November 2023. And this value actually constitutes a historic maximum in the series National Institute of Statistics (INE) dating back to 2013, even considering total overnight stays in previous years (i.e., from January to December).
Analyzing the annual overnight stays in AL since 2013, it can be seen that they have always increased year after year, reaching 10.2 million overnight stays in 2019 – which until now was the maximum value recorded. Then, in 2020, activity fell due to the Covid-19 pandemic and then gradually recovered in the following two years, registering 9.3 million overnight stays in AL establishments at the end of last year.
Having said that, everything indicates that, although 2023 was the year in which Local Accommodation raised the most controversy and concerns, it was also the moment in which it attracted more foreign and Portuguese tourists to stay overnight in Portugal.
It is important to remember that, according to the INE definition, local accommodation (AL) includes various types of short-term tourist accommodation, such as houses, apartments, accommodation establishments (including hostels). And it also includes guesthouses, hostels, motels and inns previously classified as “Other tourist accommodation”. “Only local accommodation establishments with 10 or more beds are considered, in accordance with the statistical threshold set out in EU Regulation 692/2011 ”.
Written by Idealista - Photo courtesy of Depositphotos.com
