The Olhão - Faro tourism area has recorded occupancy rates last December, way above the rest of the Algarve region when compared to December 2014.
According to preliminary data released by the Association of Hotels and Resorts in the Algarve (AHETA), the Olhão - Faro area had a December occupancy rate 28% higher than the year before, mainly due to a resurgence of Spanish visitors.
For the Mayor of Olhão, António Pina, these figures "reflect the development work that has been done in recent years by the municipality, and by businessmen linked to the area’s tourism, to improve the Olhão tourism offer."
The mayor claims that Olhão has increasingly tempting offers in terms of accommodation, led by the Real Marina 5-star hotel, and backed up by an increase in the number and quality of Alojamento Local guest houses and private lettings.
"If we add in the superior offer in terms of local restaurants, and the unparalleled natural beauty of the county, the die is cast so that increasingly Olhão is a destination of choice in the Algarve for domestic and foreign tourism," said a clearly chuffed mayor.
"Data like this, released by AHETA, gives us the encouragement to proceed the way we've been going in order to provide Olhão with more quality infrastructure, leading more people to select Olhão as a holiday destination" added the mayor.
'Quality infrastructure' in this instance means a sewage system that functions; work is still continuing in this regard.
In the last month of 2015, the overall average occupancy rate in the Algarve’s hotels and resorts was 32.3%, an increase of 11.1% over that recorded in December 2014.
Overall, the Spanish indeed are leading the pack, up 26.5%, followed by the charming Dutch up 24.4% and the long-suffering Germans up18.9%.
As for areas; in December, Faro / Olhão was up 28.2%, Carvoeiro / Armação was up 24.7% and out east, Monte Gordo / Vila Real de Santo António was up 18.9 %.
As for the boom in villas, hotels and resorts, figures show that between 1985 and 2000 the number of buildings in the region increased by 55%. Olhão was not part of this increase.
The pace of construction was so fast that in just a few years the landscape of Algarve coastline was radically changed.
But in the last decade, the building industry has collapsed. The President of the Association of Construction Companies (AECOPS) reveals that more than 430 companies have closed down in the last two years in the Algarve.
Ricardo Pedrosa Gomes said that "never again we will see a boom in road construction or an explosion in the number of second homes."
Olhão's key was to remain for decades such an undesireable place to visit that only in the past five years has anyone taken notice of the wealth of charming old buildings, ripe for sensitive refurbishment, that were built in the city's own boom time that ended in the 70s.
The mayor also has announced plans for a new four-star aparthotel and tourist apartments, perhaps a hasty move when viewed alongside the hundreds of new apartments that have been for sale for years, next to the Real Marina hotel.
The historic city centre also remains under threat from Pina's modernisation and upgrading of the 'tourist offer', keen as he is to install new paving and lighting in areas that are cherished for their cobbled streets and old bracket lights.
These tourism figures must be seen as positive though, as the city depends on tourism, with the mayor recently commenting that fishing and agriculture are not even on his radar.
