Finally, 2021 is over and the focus is now on defining strategies to welcome this year even more successful. However, for all short-term rental owners, a necessary question arises at this point: what are the expectations for tourism in 2022? We spoke with Arthur L., revenue manager at LovelyStay, who analyzed the prospects for this year, as well as the market trend and guest profile. Want to know more? Be sure to read our interview!
And since we can’t start our year without analyzing the previous year’s results, we recently shared LovelyStay’s 2021 results. Learn more at the link.
LovelyStay – Even with the instability of the industry, can we already talk about the expectations for tourism in 2022?
Arthur L. – Yes, we are optimistic about 2022. After the appearance of the latest Covid variant, Omicron, and the fear it caused, at this point, we can say that this variant is less dangerous than the previous ones, which stabilizes air traffic at 75/80% of 2019 levels.
According to Eurocontrol and the International Air Transport Organization, the most optimistic scenario foresees tourism resuming at the 2019 level by 2023. In this projection, the outlook is for air traffic in 2022 to be in the range between 80% and 95% compared to 2019.

LS – What is the outlook for the first half of 2022?
AL – For the first quarter of 2022, we will continue to have a hybrid strategy (short and medium-term rentals) that guarantees a high occupancy rate, in addition to a result in revenue volume that exceeds the market.
Our team is able to adapt our rental solution to the fluctuation of market demand by offering competitive prices, promotions for longer bookings, adapting cancellation policies, creating advertisements on conventional rental platforms (such as OLX and Idealista), and tracking demand through daily air traffic monitoring.
LS – Is it possible, in terms of guest profile, to already make an analysis of the tourist market trend for next year?
AL – Currently, tourists are young travelers, mainly groups of friends, couples, remote workers, and digital nomads, interested in enjoying the sun and the lifestyle offered by Portugal. In addition, we can consider that business travelers are still responsible for a considerable volume of bookings at our properties, mainly in Lisbon and Porto.
Last year alone, LovelyStay received over 62,000 guests, mainly from France, Germany, Spain, the UK, Italy, and the Netherlands.
For 2022, besides the nationalities mentioned above, we expect to receive more guests from the American continent (USA, Canada, Brazil) and from Asia (China, Japan, India).
LS – What is the trend in terms of values per night? Will the prices remain the same as in 2021 or can we consider that the values may increase?
AL – In 2021, in the post-confinement period, between June and December, we had an average of 104 euros/night in Lisbon and 73 euros/night in Porto, with an average occupancy of 84%. If air traffic continues to grow and restrictions remain softer, we can easily expect a price increase of 20% compared to the same period in 2021.
We are confident and will expect the best for tourism in 2022!
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LOVELYSTAY
We are a leading company in the short-term rental market in the country, we offer personalized management that aims to provide our clients with the best experience possible. For our guests, we have a complete hospitality team that accompanies them even before check-in and until the last moment of their stay. For the owners, we have a team of account managers who provide individualized and efficient service. In addition, we have a team of accountants, sales, IT, pricing managers, marketing, onboarding specialists, and quality control managers. If you would like to become our partner, please contact us: sales@lovelystay.com.
Translated by Miguel Marinho Soares