Pressured by economic and financial instability and desperate for tourists, Portuguese hotels are slashing their prices in a bid to drum up demand and fill beds.
In the second quarter of 2011, prices were cut again for the second time this year and compared with 2008 – before the crisis – are now 36% lower on average with room rates as much as €68 cheaper.
According to statistics from the Portuguese tourist board, Turismo de Portugal, the average price of a hotel room – including tourist resorts – hovered at around €114.76 between April and June (down 0.9% on the same period in 2010). In the second quarter of 2011, the greatest reductions in prices involved the pousadas, which dropped their rates 12.4% on average on last year.
The region most affected was the Alentejo, where the average price for a room fell 13.6% to €102.91 per night.
