More guests and more income, more air passengers and more rounds of golf played – all in all the Algarve's was back in business last year, leading to "a very positive assessment" with hotel revenue up to €600 million.
According to the latest tourism activity figures from the National Statistics Institute, the hospitality sector in the region welcomed 3.15 million guests to 14.8 million overnight stays last year, an increase of 3.5% over 2012.
The Algarve was the top destination in Portugal attracting 35.5% of all the overnight stays, followed by Lisbon (24.1%) and Madeira (14.3%).
Unsurprisingly the domestic market, Portuguese holidaymakers staying in Portugal's hotels, ended the year down 2.9% as available spending money was curtailed by unemployment, higher taxes and utility charges but foreigners made up for the domestic shortfall.
The institute records the Algarve as the destination that generated the highest income from tourist accommodation up 4.1% to €609 million, giving the lie to claims from some hotels in the Algarve that there is no money to pay staff.
The results from Faro airport were equally positive as it handled nearly 6 million passengers, up 5.4% on the year before.
The number of rounds of golf played cracked the million mark for the first time since 2009 at 1,008,287, an increase of 1.1% over the previous year.
