The Algarve region’s hotels had more guests this August than last and they spent more money.
The number of guests was up 1.9% from a year ago but the revenue was even more encouraging as an 11.7% rise meant that wallets were open, especially German ones.
Based on the figures issued for the Algarve by the National Statistics Institute, the low positive figure for guests and overnight stays in Portugal in August are due to a slowdown in both the domestic and foreign markets.
Even so, the Institute says, "in August, there were increases in overnight stays in all regions ... but mainly in the Algarve (weight of 39.3%) and Lisbon (20.5%). This month there was a total increase of 244,400 overnight stays, of which 24.4% was generated by the increase of overnight stays in the Algarve (59.7 thousand additional nights).”
Thus, in the main month of the high season for Algarve tourism, hotels in the region were visited by 590,000 guests, which generated more than three million overnight stays and to spent €218 million on hotels.
For the ubiquitous president of the Algarve Tourism Region, Desidério Silva , "the results are as expected, because year-after-year the Algarve almost exhausts its hotel offer in August and it is utopian to aim for yet more growth."
Overall this year so far, British visitors are up 1.2% and Germans up 10.0% with the cumulative number of guests this year at 2.8 million (+ 4.8% over the previous year), spending €759 million (+ 13.9%).
