Amid the exceptional tourism growth figures that have come to characterise the Algarve region's contribution to the nation's finances, is the one that tourism bosses want to ignore. In March, the Algarve hotel industry registered an occupancy rate of 53.8%, down a full 2% from the same month in 2017.
This is provisional data from the Algarve’s hoteliers association which, when broken down, shows that "the highest declines were in Portimão / Praia da Rocha (-10.6%), Lagos / Sagres (-9.8%) and Monte Gordo / VRSA (-5.0pp).
Thankfully, Albufeira, the main tourist area in the region accounting for 40% of revenues, registered a rise of 1.6%.
It’s the British that are letting the Algarve down with a decline in numbers of 5.3%, followed by the Dutch (-1.4%).
The British market in being heavily influenced by the avaricious pricing policies of the formerly 'low-cost' airlines, a parlous exchange rate against the euro and better offers from elsewhere.
With Easter falling in March this year, perhaps keen to miss 'Semama Santa' and a week of religious fervour, many Spanish families slipped over the border for some quiet time in the Algarve. So keen were our Iberian neighbours to visit, the number of Spanish booking into the Algarve hotels was up 140%.
Tourists from within Portugal also descended on the region, their numbers were up 35% on the year before.
The Algarve’s hotels seem not averse to charging top dollar, with sales revenues increasing 13.6% in March, compared to the same month in 2017.
This, according to some astute detective work by AHETA, "was influenced by the increase in prices during the Easter period."
