Number of tourists in 2019 smashed records in “historic year” for tourism in the Algarve

Growth in the number of guests (+ 7.2%), total revenue (+ 7.2%), and in overnight stays (+ 2.5%) throughout 2019 made it a year of “historic results” for tourism in the Algarve, with the region continuing to represent the largest share of overnight stays at the national level (30% of the total).

In absolute terms, according to preliminary data released by the National Statistics Institute (INE), the region reached historical figures of 20.95 million overnight stays, 5.07 million overall guests and 1.23 billion euros of total income.

Tourist demand in the Algarve continued to perform positively in all months of the year, with the number of guests increasing between January and December, with one exception in October (decrease from 459,928 guests to 459,535).

Also considering the evolution of overnight stays over the year, it appears that the summer months were the ones that obviously registered the highest number of overnight stays in the Algarve. This despite the reduction of the seasonality rate in the destination in almost all months of lower tourist demand (January closed with + 8% of overnight stays compared to 2018, February with + 1.2%, April with + 13.6%, November with + 7.8% and December with + 9%).

In an analysis of the markets, domestic tourists totalled 1.47 million guests, growing 8.5% compared to 2018, and foreigners registered a total of 3.59 million, registering an increase of 6.7%.

There is an interesting feature here: despite Brexit worries, the number of tourists from the United Kingdom has increased, reaching 1.19 million.

The Italian market, in turn, grew considerably a 26.8% increase in the number of guests visiting the Algarve (a total of 87.7 thousand).

There was also a growth in emerging markets such as Brazil, which increased 26.5% in the number of guests (total of 82 thousand), and the United States of America with a growth of 19.8% in the number of guests (total of 106 thousand).

Also noteworthy is the flow of tourists at Faro International Airport, which achieved a 3.8% increase in tourists in 2019, totalling 4.46 million.

For João Fernandes, president of Algarve Tourism (RTA), “the results of tourism in the Algarve for 2019 confirm that we are, in fact, the main tourist region in the country, with a much consolidated demand”.

“These results are proof of the work done by public and private contributors and reveal the strong resilience of the sector and its capacity to adapt to contingencies in a particularly demanding year”, he adds.

“Proof of this ability is in the facts: we achieved a good performance in the British market, thanks to structured strategies for anticipating Brexit, we conquered a greater demand in emission markets of great global importance like Brazil and the USA, and we registered a growth of guests throughout the year, reflecting the region’s strong commitment to diversifying its tourism offer”, concludes the RTA president

AHETA – the Association of Hotels and Tourist Enterprises of the Algarve has also made it public that the average occupancy rate of hotels and tourist developments in the Algarve reached 63.8% in 2019, 0.9% more than in the previous year, while turnover rose 3.9% in the same period.