This, according to newspaper Diário de Notícias, is a practice exercised for over a decade in that particular region of Portugal, in a bid to avoid the “problems, noise and conflicts” that such trips can entail.
Where hotels do accept groups of high-school leavers, hefty deposits are being asked for to cover their stays, the report reveals.
Speaking to Diário de Notícias (DN), Elidérico Viegas, head of the AHETA hotel association, said “it is an area of business that has no interest, nor offers profitability for hotels.
“In addition to not compensating financially, we cannot dissociate this strategy from behavioural issues.”
The head of the association stressed that “inappropriate behaviour, conflicts, and deterioration of equipment” are some reasons as to why hoteliers are attempting to ward off students.
While admitting that not all youngsters behave badly, Elidérico Viegas said unfortunately the well-behaved students “end up paying for those who do”.
Past “disruptions and losses” have led to hotel units in the popular region asking for “guarantees regarding the preservation of fixtures and fittings, and down-payments to cover expenses that result from misused equipment and parties”.
In a nutshell, the AHETA chief summarised, “no finalist groups are accepted” in the Algarve.
Even when hotels were more open to accepting them, Viegas recalls, “more significant deposits were required and prices were less competitive, which diverted the groups to other destinations”, namely to Spain.
Last year’s spring break was marred by an incident in southern Spain in which more than 1,000 Portuguese finalists were kicked out of a hotel amid claims of disagreements and vandalism.
Around 1,200 Portuguese students in their final school year were ordered to leave the Camino Real hotel in Torremolinos after they allegedly caused thousands of euros worth of damage and destruction.
But the Algarve is not alone in trying to steer clear of high-school leavers.
Several hotels on the Costa da Caparica, just south of Lisbon, where the Caparica Primavera Surf Fest is currently taking place, also told DN that they do not accept bookings from organised groups of 12th year finalists over Easter.
“I do not want students, they make a lot of noise and they annoy the other guests, and they are a lot of work”, the owner of a two-star hotel told the newspaper.
Regardless, Portuguese agencies that specialise in organising finalists’ trips say they have noted a growth of over 20 percent in demand.
Approximately one year after the incident in Torremolinos, several thousand Portuguese final year students were once again due to descend on the Spanish resort this week.
Meanwhile, both the GNR and PSP police forces have upped patrols on the roads and in busy resorts for the Easter period, to keep an eye on the holidaying youngsters as well as uphold safety in general, as the number of tourists is expected to swell.
GNR officers are also staging checks at border-crossings on buses carrying finalists on organised trips to Spain.