August was as busy as ever at Algarve hotels, which saw 95% of rooms booked despite a significant drop in the number of British holidaymakers staying in the region.
Data from the Algarve hoteliers’ association (AHETA) shows that bookings increased marginally (+0.5%) compared to last year as well as business volume (+1%).
The bad news is that the UK, the Algarve’s main tourism market, continues to send fewer tourists to the region, having registered a 13.3% drop. There was also a sharp decline in the number of Irish holidaymakers staying at regional hotels (-15.8%).
Speaking to Dinheiro Vivo website, AHETA boss Elidérico Viegas said the decreases were mainly due to the recovery of rival destinations like Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia, which had faced “serious situations of instability in recent years”.
On the other hand, hotels in the Algarve welcomed more Portuguese (+13.2%), French (+21.7%) and Spanish (+18.5%) tourists.
Still, Elidérico Viegas believes that 2018’s hotel room occupation will drop around 2% by the end of the year although business volume is expected to increase around 3%.
