An impressive performance in the hotel sector saw €609 million flow into the Algarve’s economy last year, up 4% from 2012, according to a report from Algarve Tourism released today.
Tourism in the region ended 2013 with a rise in the number of guests, overnight stays, income and occupancy rates, reads the quarterly newsletter, misic to the ears of trourism bosses, business owners and the exchequer.
"This was the icing on the cake as the tourism sector was the largest contributor to the country's trade balance in 2013 and the Algarve represented 31.1% of total national revenues," reads the commentary.
Nationally there were more hotel beds available as mothballed units were brought back into play, and some new hotels were opened, causing a rise in the number of available beds of 0.8% in 2013 compared to 2012, from 106,625 to 107,462 beds.
The total number of guests in 2013 in the Algarve was about 3.15 million, a 3.6% increase.
"More foreign guests were recorded (2.22 million), resulting in a 70% share of the total. Portuguese guests decreased by 2.3%," the document said, illustrating the Portuguese crisis continued to dampen demand from within its borders.
The average length of stay was 4.7 nights with foreign holiday makers averaging 5.1 nights, 1.5 nights more than the more short-term Portuguese guests.
These figures will be picked up by unions representing the Algarve’s hotel workers who in many well-reported cases have not been paid up-to-date and whose pay has been frozen sometimes for several years, with management conveniently blaming ‘the crisis.’
