Local Accommodation overnight stays declined 4.5 percent in the Azores in July while rising 8.9 percent in Madeira, prompting the ALA to call for greater air capacity, stronger competition and more affordable access to the archipelago

Tourism statistics acquire greater meaning when islands are compared with other islands facing many of the same geographical constraints. That is why the latest figures for Local Accommodation (Alojamento Local — AL) have attracted the attention of the Azores Local Accommodation Association (ALA). In July, overnight stays in Azorean AL establishments declined 4.5 percent compared with the same month in 2025. In Madeira, the same sector grew 8.9 percent—a striking 13.4 percentage-point difference between Portugal’s two autonomous archipelagos. For the ALA, the contrast reinforces a concern that has been developing for months: the weakening of Azorean tourism can no longer easily be interpreted as an isolated statistical fluctuation.

The warning comes against a broader regional decline. According to figures from the Azores Regional Statistics Service (SREA) cited by the association, the archipelago recorded 648,800 tourist overnight stays in July, 2.2 percent fewer than a year earlier, while Portugal as a whole grew 2.1 percent. Between January and July, overnight stays in the Azores were down 3.7 percent, compared with national growth of 1.5 percent. The divergence suggests that the problem extends beyond Local Accommodation, even if AL operators are experiencing some of its strongest effects.

Local Accommodation Under Pressure

July was somewhat better for the sector than June, when AL overnight stays had fallen 8.9 percent. Nevertheless, other indicators remained weak: the number of guests declined 7.4 percent, while the bed-occupancy rate dropped 2.7 percentage points. During the first seven months of 2026, Local Accommodation accumulated a 7.6 percent decline in overnight stays and a 9.2 percent reduction in guests.

The experience also varies considerably among the islands. São Miguel, which accounts for 64.4 percent of regional AL overnight stays, declined 4.7 percent in July. Terceira recorded a considerably sharper 12.6 percent fall. São Jorge and Pico moved against the regional trend, increasing 4.5 percent and 2.5 percent respectively.

For the ALA, the duration of the decline is especially significant. Overall Azorean tourism has recorded year-over-year reductions in overnight stays since October 2025. In Local Accommodation, the negative trajectory has continued since November, with the exception of March 2026.

When a decline persists across most of a year, the discussion inevitably moves from describing numbers to asking what may be driving them.

The Air Access Question

The ALA places particular emphasis on air accessibility, arguing that competitiveness cannot be judged simply by counting airlines or routes. What matters, the association maintains, is actual capacity: how many seats and frequencies were available before the reduction in Ryanair’s operation, how many disappeared afterward, and how much of that capacity has effectively been replaced by SATA and TAP.

The association also argues that airfare prices are central to the problem. For an island destination, aviation is not simply one component of tourism infrastructure—it is effectively the road through which almost every visitor must arrive. A destination may possess exceptional landscapes, accommodations and experiences, but its competitiveness is inevitably weakened if reaching it becomes too expensive or inconvenient.

For that reason, the ALA advocates attracting low-cost operations, particularly during lower-demand months, as a means of increasing competition and putting downward pressure on fares. With the low season approaching, it considers recovering air capacity, strengthening competition and improving price competitiveness urgent priorities.

Diversification Rather Than Dependence

Importantly, the association is not advocating a tourism model built exclusively around low-cost aviation or Local Accommodation. Instead, it argues for diversification: traditional and low-cost airlines, tour operators and independent travelers, hotels, Local Accommodation and rural tourism should coexist within a broader tourism ecosystem.

That principle may be increasingly important as the Azorean tourism sector matures. Dependence upon a single airline model, accommodation category, island or visitor market creates vulnerability. A more resilient tourism economy requires multiple ways of reaching the islands and different forms of accommodation capable of serving travelers with different expectations and budgets.

The comparison with Madeira does not by itself explain why one archipelago grew while the other declined. The two destinations have different markets, accommodation structures, aviation networks and tourism dynamics. But a 13.4 percentage-point difference in the same accommodation segment is substantial enough to justify careful examination.

For the Azores, the approaching low season makes that examination more urgent. The challenge is no longer simply attracting more tourists during the height of summer. It is creating sufficient accessibility, competition and demand to sustain businesses across more months of the year and across more of the nine islands.

On an archipelago, every tourism journey begins with the same fundamental requirement: there must be a viable way to cross the ocean. The ALA’s warning is ultimately about precisely that bridge—how many seats it offers, what they cost, and whether the Azores can remain competitive when other island destinations are making the crossing easier.

Based on a story in Diário dos Açores-Paulo Viveiros, director. Photos from Novidades and JEgardo Vieira.