Hotel occupancy in the Algarve during September was 74.8 per cent according to the region’s hotel and tourism association, AHETA.
This represents an increase of 3.2 per cent compared with September 2009.
However, the association noted that during September last year there was a drop of 12.9 per cent in occupancy rates compared with the same period in 2008, leading the September 2010 figures to represent a cumulative drop of 3.1 per cent.
The largest increase in occupancy rates was recorded in the Lagos and Praia da Rocha areas, where there was a rise of 14 per cent, while in Carvoeiro and Armação de Pêra there was also a significant increase of 8.5 per cent.
The largest fall in occupancy for September was in Albufeira, where rates dropped by two percent.
The area with the highest level of tourists was Monte Gordo and Vila Real de Santo António, with 87 per cent, while Faro was lowest with 61.7 per cent.
As in past months of summer 2010 Portuguese national tourists were up (see the Algarve Resident edition September 10), this time by 12.9 per cent with British tourist levels falling by 6.7 per cent.
However, it was visitors from Germany that recorded the highest increase in occupancy levels, registering an increase of 37.3 per cent.
