Last month, the Algarve witnessed an occupancy rate of 34.8 per cent per room in hotels and tourist establishments, surpassing the corresponding figure from 2022 by 1.4 percentage points.
In contrast to December 2019, a pre-pandemic era unaffected by the impact of COVID-19 on tourism, the last month of 2023 suffered a drop of 1.2 percentage points, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
In addition, the primary contributors to the year-on-year surge were the Dutch market, which contributed 0.6 percentage points, and the German and Irish markets, which contributed 0.2 percentage points each.
Regarding geographical areas, the Vilamoura/Quarteira/Quinta do Lago region, encompassing three key tourist destinations in the Loulé municipality, experienced the most substantial growth, surpassing December 2022 by over 4.8 percentage points. Moreover, Albufeira also saw a significant increase, exceeding the previous year’s figures by more than 1.9 percentage points.
The average stay was 3.5 nights, 0.1 above that recorded in the same month of 2022. The longest average stays were those in the Swedish market, with 8.7 nights, and in the Dutch market, with 7.2.
Portuguese authorities celebrated last year as a triumphant year in tourism, reaching a record revenue of €25 billion. Such a figure means a notable increase of 37 per cent compared to the previous peak year of 2019.
Compared to 2022, the tourism sector in Portugal experienced a significant increase of 18.5 per cent in the income generated, highlighting the country’s recovery and strong growth in the industry.
Portugal’s popularity as a tourist destination was underlined by welcoming 30 million guests in 2023, marking a significant ten per cent expansion compared to the pre-pandemic year 2019. Furthermore, the country recorded an impressive total of 77 million overnight stays during 2023.
In August of this year, Portugal also hosted about 3.5 million guests in accommodation establishments.
The Government Office for National Statistics of Portugal (INE) reported that these guests collectively contributed to an impressive 10.1 million overnight stays, resulting in the country’s highest monthly revenue ever recorded.
The total revenue for August reached a total of €878.3 million, indicating a 10.4 per cent increase compared to the same month in 2022.