The occupancy rates in the region’s tourist accommodation establishments reached a solid 92.1% last month, representing a 2.4% increase when you compare the number to August of 2012.

This increase in occupancy rates is attributed mostly to a rather significant rise in French, German and British markets – these three registering a healthy 37.9%, 21.8% and a rather modest, but still good, 10.4% increases, respectively – thus making the month of August the most successful since 2008, and that can only be great news.

The growth of those markets made up for the 4.9% drop in Portuguese tourists.

According to the president of AHETA – Eliderico Viegas – thought he French market especially grew considerably, this only represented 4.9% of the total, which is still dominated by British tourists, while at the same time, admitting that this higher occupancy rate does not necessarily mean an increase in profit, because the tourist establishments had to lower their prices in order to attract the business to begin with.

He did also add however, that if the occupancy rates continue their upward trend for the following four to five years, the region might reach the same level of success that it registered in the past.

During the last month of the calendar summer, the areas of Carvoeiro/Armacao de Pera saw a 3.9% increase, Monte Gordo/Vila Real de Santo Antonio 3.4% and Albufeira a 2.3% registered the biggest boosts in their occupancy rates.

Albufeira was the municipality that registered the highest occupancy rate, hitting a 95.8%, while Tavira was the lowers with an 86%.

We don’t have other numbers to go by, but we’ll keep an eye on what happens to the tourism numbers in the future and see how the region deals with the recent calls to not close down for the winter.

Being located very close to the much larger and much better-known town of Armacao de Pera, Pera is usually associated with it, the former being located directly on the coast and still featuring a fishing industry.

The village gets its name because it sits on sandy soil which is ideal for the growing of pears, a fruit that was rather popular between the 16^th and the 18^th centuries. Interestingly enough, the variety grown here wasn’t that great for eating, but instead they turned it into marmalade or sun dried them. Other fruits that proliferated in the region were carobs and grapes, so much so that the Pera village has the carob and the grape on its coat of arms.

The neighboring village of Alcantarilha still holds an annual fair dedicated to dried fruits during the first week of September. The fair is a typical Algarve celebration, you come for one thing but get a bunch of many others, such as live music and stalls selling home-cooked food, as well as the opportunity to try the local vintage.

Back to Pera now, you can expect to find quite a few cobbled stone streets and two churches, which means that the village isn’t as small as you might initially think. One was built back in the 18^th century, being set on the highest point of the village and offering some great views of the coast and the surroundings.

The village has a pretty solid daily indoor fish market, lots of smaller shops and many bars and local restaurants where you can eat on the cheap.

You can make Pera part of a day-trip or a tour of the Algarve if you use some Algarve car rental services.

Algoz hosts several events each year however, your best bet is to show up during monthly market day, because it is the largest in Central Algarve.

The village takes its name from an Arabic word which itself is derived from the name of an Asian tribe which dates back to the 12^th century. Despite its current spelling, it was seen on maps as recent as the 18^th Century as Algos.

The Algarve experience that you’ll be enjoying if you were to visit Algoz will be quite different than the ones that you’ll experience on the coast’s resorts; the small village has two banks as well as a solid selection of shops and a daily fish, meat and fruit market that is open until 1PM, so it’s a great destination for self catering individuals. Even non self-catering individuals will find it easy and cheap to eat in Algoz, the village has around ten restaurants, and most of them are dish-of-the-day type restaurants, where a three course meal with wine will cost you very little. Keep in mind that the restaurants tend to get busy with locals between midday to 3PM.

Simply walking through the village will allow you to see houses boasting some very elaborate stone carvings on parapet walls and round windows, thus showing that the village used to be inhabited by merchants in the past. You can find old oil presses and stone thoughts along the grass verges and there was also a public open air laundry which was closed in the 1990s.

The village centre features a very picturesque church with a clock tower and a cockerel weather vein.

Reaching Algoz, or other Algarve destinations, shouldn’t be difficult, with the help of our Algarve car rental services it can only be a few minutes distance from Armacao de Pera.