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.

The optimism for future tourism is increasing in the country, and especially in the Algarve seeing as how a large percentage of the increased tourism is in the region.

There’s a 20% growth in occupancy levels for hotels and resorts – overall – with foreign bookings increasing through the biggest tour operators.

Many tourist establishments in the Algarve have reported successful occupancy rates, some establishments predicting that 90% of their accommodations will be booked throughout the summer, while most of them confirming a positive trend in their bookings.

The Quinta do Lago golf resort revealed that it has an occupancy rate for rental villas and town homes of around 85% at the present time and that the increase in golf rounds has contributed to this higher traffic. They also added that a lot of the business was in the peak months of July and August and it was made mostly of last-minute bookings.

Desiderio Silva – president of the Algarve Tourism Board and an official who we often-times talk about here – stressed that the tourism boost to the region is thanks to the divergence of clients from the Arabian tourist destinations, who now choose European alternatives.

The occupancy rate per room reported by AHETA – the Association of Hotels and Resorts of the Algarve – was 81.6% which means a 3.7% increase from the same month in 2012, however it also showed a rather sharp contrast between foreign and national markets.

There was an important increase in the number of Irish, Dutch and British tourists to the Algarve, their numbers increasing by 29.3%, 21.1% and 17.1%, respectively – those are some serious numbers – while Portuguese and Spanish visitors decreased by almost 10%, most likely an indication of the difficult economic times that the Iberian Peninsula citizens are facing.

The Algarve region of Portugal has been for years one of the most popular holiday destinations in the world. Algarve, Portugal is the destination of choice for good reasons: good weather year-round, very little rain and warm temperatures during the winter season, making the Algarve the best place to be.

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