On New Year’s Eve, people traditionally leave their homes to celebrate and watch the fireworks, especially on Ponta Delgada’s Avenida Marginal, and the traditional New Year’s Eve dances, especially at the Coliseu Micaelense.
Fireworks were set off in practically every municipality in the Azores, particularly in São Miguel, especially Ponta Delgada.
For the hotel industry in São Miguel, especially Ponta Delgada, the New Year’s Eve party usually means high occupancy, with many hotels almost full this year.
In Ponta Delgada, most hotels were full on New Year’s Eve or close to it. Correio dos Açores asked hotels in Ponta Delgada and was told their average occupancy was 90% of capacity. There was a balance between the number of domestic and foreign visitors. According to what we found out, the percentage of bookings from national visitors was close to 50%.
Several hotels highlighted the increase in bookings from local guests and residents of São Miguel since this number corresponded to half of the bookings made by national guests. Most guests staying in hotels in Ponta Delgada that had dinner included opted for this reservation.


Outside Ponta Delgada, the numbers drop considerably. The average occupancy rate for hotels outside Ponta Delgada was below 50%. The balance between domestic and foreign guests was maintained since the bookings were made by domestic guests and the other half by foreign guests. Most reservations made were without dinner included, even though it could be purchased with the reservation.
Contacted by Correio dos Açores, the head of AHRESP, the Portuguese Hotel, Restaurant and Catering Association, confirmed these figures in São Miguel, adding that on the island, the average occupancy was as expected for New Year’s Eve (70%). He also highlighted that some establishments chose to give their employees vacations at this time.
In terms of restaurants, the expected figures were much more positive. On the islands of São Miguel, Terceira, and Pico, restaurant occupancy was 100%, except Ponta Delgada, which, at the time AHRESP collected the information, had 90% occupancy.

Frederico Figueiredo in Correio dos A;cores – Natalino Viveiros, director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance)  at California State University, Fresno–PBBI thanks the sponsorship of the Luso-American Development Foundation from Lisbon, Portugal (FLAD).