Faro Airport management welcomed 2016's 7 millionth passenger on Wednesday as an unsuspecting traveller from Amsterdam was given the red carpet treatment on arrival in the Algarve.
The passenger's profile was a gift to the airport management company ANA and to the tourist board as she professed an enduring interest in outdoor activities, nature and sport.
Transavia’s Boeing 737-800 from Amsterdam was met by a welcoming committee despite the airport being more of a building site than a 21st century luxury experience, but ANA is working on it with 24-hour work shifts operating to ensure next summer’s passengers have the opportunity to spend their money at a new and expanded ‘retail experience.’
Faro Airport’s management is as keen as the tourist board to increase off season numbers with the press release mentioning ‘sustainability’ but omitting to explain the meaning.
Passenger numbers have grown 17.9% this year with last year’s total of 6 million already beaten, a credit to the region's ability to attract and retain customers in one of the least spoilt regions of Europe.
For those in government that imagine that turning the Algarve into an oil and gas production zone somehow is an inspired idea, the current enduring tourist boom already is creating income far in excess of the most rosy predictions for royalty revenues from hydrocarbon production.
When ANA and the tourist board talk of ‘sustainability’, the way to reduce it is to pursue any activity that would detract from the Algarve’s main business of tourism.
