Hotels and guesthouses in the Algarve had a busier December in 2014 than the same month the year before, thanks to more Portuguese (+15.5%) and British tourists (10.1%) choosing the Algarve as their winter retreat.
Occupancy levels were placed at 29% in December – a 6.6% increase on 2013 – while revenue also grew 6.6%, according to provisional data from the Algarve hoteliers association AHETA.
Monte Gordo/Vila Real de Santo António registered the highest occupancy rate (48.4%), while the area of Lagos/Sagres/Tavira registered the lowest (19.3%).
Still, the Lagos area was among those with the most significant increases in occupancy (4.4pp), alongside Vilamoura/Quarteira/Quinta do Lago (3.4pp).
Further data shows that four and five-star hotels accounted for the largest occupancy rate (40.1%), while five-star aparthotels had the lowest (23.5%). Occupancy improved mostly in four-star (4.6pp) and five-star aparthotels (3.7pp).
The data comes shortly after the Algarve’s regional tourism board (RTA) deemed 2014 a “remarkable year” for the sector.
Even before November and December’s statistics had been taken into account, the region had already registered more sleepovers in the first 10 months of 2014 than in the 12 months of 2013.
