52% of hotels in Portugal have a sustainability certification

These hotels have obtained, at least, the basic level of good sustainability practices from one of the main OTAs.

71% of 5-star hotels have some level of certification.

Only 3% have a specialized sustainability certification from an external certifier.

During the tourism show Bolsa Turismo Lisboa (BTL) held in Portugal this week, Mabrian Technologies, a company specializing in Tourism Intelligence services for destinations and companies, has conducted an analysis of the level of involvement of hotel accommodations in Portugal regarding sustainability practices.

Sustainability is one of the main topics at BTL this year, so Mabrian wanted to provide updated information on the country’s overall situation in this aspect. They analysed a total of 2,485 hotels across the country listed on the main OTAs (Booking, Expedia, and TripAdvisor), classifying those with published sustainability certification levels. The classification they established is based on 5 levels: no certification, bronze, silver, gold, and external certification.

In general, 52% of hotels in Portugal show some level of sustainability certification, which is a significant percentage, higher than in other countries. Among those with certification, 58% have the bronze level, equivalent to the most basic awarded by OTAs, 31% have the intermediate or silver level, and 8% have the maximum or gold level granted by these online portals. It is noteworthy that only 3% of certified hotels publish a certificate from an external sustainability auditor, which would be the excellence level according to this analysis.

When segmenting the analysis by hotel categories, Mabrian’s results show that, generally, the higher the hotel category, the greater the commitment to sustainability. 71% of 5-star hotels have some certification, while in 4-star hotels it is 61%, and in 3-star establishments it is 41%.

The study was completed with a comparative analysis of the average daily rates of these hotels, to determine if there is any relationship between the levels of sustainability practices and the average prices of accommodations. The data reflect that hotels with some type of sustainability certification, regardless of category, offer, on average, prices 19% higher than those accommodations without any certification.

Carlos Cendra, Marketing and Communication Director of Mabrian, comments: “The results of this preliminary analysis are very positive for Portugal. More than half of its hotel supply is already certified in sustainability at some level. The data also show that these hotels can offer higher rates, so accommodations that have not yet started their certification process may begin to consider it, as sustainability is profitable for the environment and also for hoteliers.”