An increase in British tourists to the region and a rise in turnover helped to make September a positive month for tourism in the Algarve.
The occupancy rate per room in the Algarve’s accommodation units stood at 87.4 percent in September, a 1.4 percentage point increase compared to the same period in 2018, the region’s main hotel association announced.
The Association of Hotels and Tourism Enterprises of the Algarve (AHETA) said the data compiled by its research office on occupation per room last month amounted to a 4.6 percent increase in turnover, compared to September 2018.
This increase in turnover also allowed the accommodation units in the region to achieve a “cumulative increase of +3.2 percent since the beginning of the year,” AHETA said in a statement.
“The British market contributed the most to the increase, with 1.2 percentage points [pp] more, followed by the Irish (+0.5 pp) and the Spanish (+0.4 pp)”, according to AHETA, a business association based in Albufeira.
While the number of British and Irish tourists was up, the greatest decrease in tourists from specific countries came from the “German (-2.3 pp) and Dutch (-0.4 pp) markets”.
AHETA also revealed that, since the beginning of 2019, the occupancy rate per room in the Algarve accommodation units “remains at the same level as the same period of 2018 (+0.3 percent)”.
Data by geographical areas placed Lagos/Sagres as the one that registered having the biggest decrease in September, with 4.3 percent less than in the same period last year, while Monte Gordo/Vila Real de Santo António showed the biggest increase (+8.9 percent).