COVID-19 Impact on the Tourism Accommodation and Restaurant Sectors of São Miguel (Azores)

Maria de Fátima Brilhante () and Maria Luísa Rocha
Additional contact information
Maria de Fátima Brilhante: School of Sciences and Technology, University of the Azores, 9500-321 Ponta Delgada, Portugal
Maria Luísa Rocha: School of Business and Economics, University of the Azores, 9500-321 Ponta Delgada, Portugal

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-23

Abstract: The importance of tourism in the Azores’ economy has been increasing over the years. In order to respond to higher tourist demand, new accommodation establishments and restaurants started activity in the region, creating new jobs and wealth. This trend of economic expansion has been slowed down, possibly reversed, since the COVID-19 pandemic and the various strategies adopted by the government to decrease the infection rate, which led to the arrival of fewer tourists. To assess the pandemic impact after the first lockdown on the economy of São Miguel, the biggest and most visited island of the Azores, surveys were designed for the tourism accommodation and restaurant sectors, both influenced by tourism activity. The main aim was to estimate the mean income drop in the 2020 tourism high season, in percentage, compared to the homologous pre-pandemic 2019 period. The results highlight an adverse impact on those sectors, with the greatest mean income drop being estimated for the local accommodation sector ( 78.7 ± 3.6 % ), followed by the traditional hotel sector ( 74.7 ± 4.6 % ) and the restaurant sector ( 58.5 ± 6.5 % ). Moreover, an almost 60% drop in the mean occupancy rate during the 2020 tourism high season, compared to 2019, was estimated for the tourism accommodation sector.

Keywords: COVID-19; mean income drop; mean occupancy rate drop; restaurant sector; tourism accommodation sector (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/1/343/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/1/343/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2022:i:1:p:343-:d:1014962

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().