Web Summit: Hotels in Lisbon with occupancy close to 100%

The Association of Hospitality in Portugal estimated a "near occupation of 100%" in the establishments of Lisbon next week, due to the accomplishment of the technology summit Web Summit.

"It is expected that hotels in the city of Lisbon could close with an occupation very close to 100% that week and the price will naturally adjust," says the Association of Hoteliers of Portugal (AHP) in a written response sent to the agency Lusa about the third edition of the Web Summit in the Portuguese capital, which runs from November 05 to 08. According to this entity, in the two previous editions, "there is to record that the participants stayed in the hotels of the city, but also throughout the region of Lisbon."

An AHP survey carried out last year reveals that during the event in 2017, "the hotel occupancy rate in the city of Lisbon stood at 92% and the average price at 141 euros, while in the Lisbon region the occupancy rate was 88% and the average price of 128 euros. " Noting that this edition expects more than 70,000 participants from 170 countries, the AHP says that this "will naturally have an impact on tourism and hotels", stressing that "the impact of having the Web Summit in Portugal far exceeds the sphere of hospitality ".

"The positioning of Lisbon and Portugal in the capture of events of this nature, which trace trends and open the way for the future, has a huge impact on communication and brings to our country notoriety, as well as thousands of companies and investors," he said.

For its part, and also questioned by Lusa, the Association of Hospitality, Catering and Similar of Portugal (AHRESP) predicts that participants in the Web Summit spend more than 61 million euros in the four days of the international conference on technology. This amount is the result of an average daily expenditure of 220 euros per participant, of which 120 euros in accommodation and 50 euros in "catering and animation".

Still according to AHRESP, the number of guests is expected to increase 12.4% this year, with the fastest growth among foreign guests (+ 18%). The overnight stays are expected to rise 13.5% year-on-year, with the foreign market contributing an increase of 17.3%.

Meanwhile, through its official social networking Twitter account, Web Summit chief executive Paddy Cosgrave has estimated tickets for the event will wear out tonight. Also through that platform, the official said that "Web Summit broadband this year will be 50GB per second, with" tens of kilometers of fiber optic cables and almost 1,000 access points. "A few days of the technology summit Web Summit, the organization reported hoping that this is "the biggest and the best" edition ever.

The technological, innovation and entrepreneurship summit Web Summit was born in 2010 in Ireland and moved to Lisbon in 2016, remaining in the Portuguese capital until 2028.