News

New figures out have revealed that the Algarve had by October already surpassed the record-breaking numbers reached for the entire year in 2015.

In a statement, Algarve Tourism (RTA) revealed that “hotels in the Algarve had between January and October this year already recorded greater occupancy and revenue than the whole of 2015, which had been the best ever for the region.”
Overnight stays in the region totalled 17 million for the first ten months of the year. The total number for the whole of 2015 was 16.6 million.
Revenue for the first ten months of 2016, meanwhile climbed to 863 million euros, which was up 19.1 percent on the same period last year, and 100 million more than the total accumulated for 2015.
The number of guests visiting the Algarve has also broken all records, with 3.88 million spending time in the region between January and October, when 3.66 million had done so in 2015.
“These numbers revealed by Portugal Statistics are an excellent Christmas present that set exceptional targets reached by the region. Year after year it keeps on setting new records and serves to consolidate the Algarve as the country’s principal tourism destination”, RTA President Desidério Silva said in a
statement.
Earlier this year, Statistics Portugal revealed that the millions of visitors to these shores boosted hotel revenues to almost 2.5 billion euros during the course of 2015.
The total growth in receipts last year against 2014 was placed at 8.6 percent, further helping Portugal’s accounts which are heavily reliant on tourism.
Currently, tourism and tourism-related activities account for around ten percent of the country’s gross domestic product, but with increases such as seen in 2015, tourism is expected to see its share of the GDP rise even further once total figures for 2016 are calculated.
Statistics Portugal said that the number of foreign tourists reached 10.18 million in 2015, a rise of ten percent on the previous year, while the number of domestic tourists rose by seven percent to 7.3 million.
Overall, hotel revenues rose by more than 13 percent, which was explained by the ability to charge more for rooms due to heightened demand for
accommodation.
In conjunction with this boom in tourism, Portugal welcomed over 50 new hotels in 2015, with most of them focused on the luxury segment of the market.
Latest reports also indicate that around 30 new hotels are expected to be built in Portugal during the course of 2017.