Algarve hotels have registered 6.5 million overnight stays so far this year, a rise of 13% over 2013 according to the Algarve’s tourist board.
Data from the National Statistics Institute covering January to June this year show the Algarve has had an increase of 757,000 overnight stays compared to last year, the majority of which were by foreign tourists which accounted for a grand total of 5.2 million overnight stays.
British tourists up 18%, Germans up 13%, Spanish up 53%, Dutch up 3.3% - all contributing to an additional injection into the sector of €238 million, up 13.9%.
"These numbers show that 2014 will be a good year for tourism in the Algarve and they confirm the region as the major holiday destination in the country," said the omnipresent president of the tourist board, Desidério Silva, pictured above, still without a tie.
Silva also considers the results in the Algarve as “very positive” and in the absence of anything to add, said no more.
With these figures under his belt, Silva now can concentrate fully on campaigning for the abolition of tolls on the Via do Infante, the scrapping of the Finalgarve/Praia Grande development set to destroy unique farmland and bird breeding grounds at Salgados, the cancellation of the oil drilling carte blanche along the Algarve coastline without any environmental assessment, the installation of a fit for purpose sewage treatment plant between Olhão and Faro to halt the need to dump foul water in the otherwise pristine waters of the Ria Formosa, the completion of the EN125 roadworks across the region to enable tourists to travel without fear or delay, the regulation of car rental companies intent on ripping off tourists at Faro airport and any other projects that would ensure visitors to the Algarve come more than once.
