A special edition of Algarve Tourism State of Affairs (Algarve Conjuntura Turística) has been published. The 16-page report, produced by the Algarve Tourism Board for travel trade professionals, highlights tourism activity across the region in 2012.
Tourism remains a worldwide growth industry. According to the World Tourism Organisation, international tourist arrivals around the world grew by 4% in 2012 to a total of 1.035 billion. The most visited continent was Europe, which last year saw a 3% rise in numbers.
In Portugal, despite the decline in the numbers of national tourists, the amount of foreign tourists visiting the country grew. Indeed, figures reveal a 2.7% increase in foreign passenger arrivals at national airports, and the number of foreign guests staying in hotels has increased by 3.9% to 7.7 million. In addition, revenue derived from foreign tourists staying overnight in Portugal last year increased by 5.6%.
Tourism in the Algarve has followed the national trend, with the majority of indicators registering positive due to the heavier numbers of foreign tourists.
The report reveals that in 2012 Faro airport handled a total of 5.67 million passengers, an increase of nearly 1% and representing nearly 20% of the overall movement of passengers in Portugal. Around 2.8 million actually disembarked at Faro, a 1.1% increase over 2011. Last year also saw the largest increase in passenger numbers since 2007, overturning the drop in numbers seen in 2008 and 2009.
The United Kingdom was again the most important market, representing more than 50% of passenger traffic at Faro airport. The number of passengers originating from Germany and the Netherlands increased slightly in 2012 (0.7% and 0.4% respectively), with each country currently representing 10% of total passenger traffic.
Ryanair was the airline flying the greatest number of passengers into Faro airport, almost 1.6 million in total. EasyJet flew the second largest amount, approximately 1.1 million passengers. Together, these two carriers were responsible for 46.2% of total passenger traffic.
Low-cost carriers occupy the first five places of the 10 major companies operating at Faro, and generate 68% of total passenger traffic.
As for tourist accommodation choice across the region as a whole, 2012 saw a 5.3% increase in the availability of beds compared with 2011, with 107,938 beds available.
Regarding distribution and type, a slight decrease was recorded in the number of beds at hotels but an increase was seen at aparthotels, tourist villages and apartments.
In 2012, the total number of guests staying in all types of Algarve hotel accommodation rose by 1.3% registered – approximately 3.05 million overnights.
Although the majority of guests at all hotels in the Algarve in 2012 were foreign (68.4%), the Portuguese market continues to be of significance (31.6%). Furthermore, the United Kingdom remained the country of origin of the majority of foreign guests in the Algarve, representing 40% of the overall stay.
The markets that registered the highest increases in guest numbers over 2011 were Ireland (+18.4%), France (+17.4%) and Germany (+12.3%). However, the fewer numbers of Spanish guests registered somewhat bucked the positive trend seen in these principal foreign markets, with a decrease of 20.5% (-56,757 guests). Overall, only 219,592 Spanish guests visited the Algarve last year, the lowest since 2008.
Not surprisingly perhaps, it was suggested that the introduction of tolls on the A22 (Via do Infante) was a possible contributory factor in these disappointing figures. In addition, the decrease of Portuguese visitors to the region (-8.5%) was probably due to the national financial crisis.
Statistics further revealed that in 2012 the total number of bed-nights in hotels, villages and tourist apartments increased by 2.6%, representing approximately 14.35 million overnights in these types of accommodation units.
Analysing the origin of tourists staying overnight in the Algarve last year, the report noted that the United Kingdom remained the most important market, with a share of approximately 32% of the total.
The annual average occupancy rate in 2012 decreased to the same extent in Portugal as in the Algarve. The region registered a decrease of 1.4% to 40.8% while the national average rate remained at 41.3%. However, this negativity was a result of the increase in the number of beds available rather than a decrease in visitor bed-nights.
The occupancy rate figures were well above the national average, peaking at nearly 80% in August, which emphasises the importance of the summer season to the Algarve.
The average stay by guests across all hotels increased from 4.6% to 4.7% in 2012. Those guests that booked overnights in the region for the longest duration were the Dutch at an average of 7.3 nights followed by the Germans at 5.7 nights.
The Algarve profited from all hotel activity (rooms, restaurants and other areas such as conference facility rental, shops etc.) to the tune of approximately €589 million – the only region in the country to realise more profit in 2012 than in the previous year (an increase of 19.3 million euros).
Although experiencing a decrease of 0.7% in 2012, the number of rounds of golf at Algarve golf courses was maintained close to 1 million (996,924), slightly less than registered in 2011 but higher than in 2010.
