The momentum that he is referring to has to do with the fact that at least till the present time, the tourism numbers in the Algarve have been showing a positive and upward trend, and that he considers that this is reason enough for the Algarve to establish itself as an all year-round destination.

He appealed to businesses operating within the Algarve tourism industry to stay open for as long as possible because in his words, it is ‘essential’ to try and ‘keep facilities and infrastructures connected to tourism open’ during this coming winter; because that’s what is needed to start the process of reaching the goal of making the Algarve into a winter destination.

Silva continued to say that the Algarve tourism industry as a whole is working on the 2012/14 winter campaign and he said that the campaign has shown very positive results in securing about 100,000 nights to be spent in the region on top of all of those already contracted for this winter.

He stressed that the region has to affirm itself as a year-round destination and in order for this to happen, each and every public and private entity have to help create the conditions so as to reach this objective.

Mister Silva is quite uniquely experienced in the subject, having been mayor of Albufeira – one of the region’s major tourist hotspots – for a decade, and now being re-elected as the president of the RTA; he is quite aware of the seasonality aspect of the region and that’s why he is trying to change that.

We can only hope that he manages to do this for the overall good for everyone.

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.

A bitter exchange of statements and counter-statements has broken out recently between the Turismo de Portugal board and the low-cost, Irish airline, Ryanair, over the claims that the Portuguesse authorities have rejected the company’s proposal for increasing winter flights to Faro Airport in order to boost the number of off-season visitors.

According to the airline, it planned to introduce three new winter routes to Faro Airport, which would increase weekly flights by 35% thus increasing the traffic in Faro by about 70,000 passengers.

Then, in a press release, the Portugal tourism board said that it doesn’t have the authority to decide on such matters and that Ryanair could invest into its Faro routes however, the board did admit that it refused to pay the airline the amount of money requested in order to strengthen its presence in the Algarve because it considered it to be ‘disproportionate’ to the plan’s real value.

But it didn’t end there, it couldn’t really end there, with Ryanair then stating that with this new plan the company can cause a rapid increase in winter tourism and traffic – which would result in more jobs – because the travel sector reacts very quickly to stimulus, and then jabbed at the Turismo de Portugal saying that for an organization whose brief is to promote the Algarve, they shouldn’t ignore the continent’s largest carrier and Faro’s main airline, especially when considering that the country’s unemployment rate is at 18%

Then of course the board counter-attacked saying that they are committed to increase winter traffic to the Algarve however, this must be accomplished via correct and adequate management of public funds and a balanced strategy. They continued to say that the Irish company had already benefitted from public funds in the past, and that even though Ryanair had proposed creating new routes for the Algarve during the winter in the past, it had cancelled those plans even when funding was made available.

So it’s a giant game of ‘he said, she said’ and it remains to be seen what will happen in the future.

New contracts have been signed by Turismo de Portugal in a bid to see more tourist all-year-round and they expect that this will result in an extra 20,000 tourists touching down at the Faro Airport this year.

All of these new flight towards faro will be originating from four markets that are now considered a priority by the Turismo de Portugal because they have a great potential o generating more tourists in the short-term, namely Germany, Scandinavia, Ireland and Poland. This has come at the cost of 400,000 euros which the government has invested into increasing the number of air flight routes to Faro Airport.

According to the Secretary of State for Tourism, the Algarve has to focus on receiving more winter tourists by cultivating and growing ties with airline companies and tour operators, rather than trying to attract new visitors by organizing events like concerts or parties. A representative from Turismo de Portugal has also added that this is the first time that a plan of ‘these dimensions’ has been put into practice.

Now for some Algarve related tourism numbers in order to put some things into perspective: the region sees 14.3 million annual overnight stays, with 10.9 million of these being booked by foreign visitors. In 2012, almost a half – 47% – of overnight stays took place over the summer season.

With those numbers in mind, we’ve been talking quite a bit lately about the fact that overall business is down, and has been down for the past couple of years, however the government has been taking steps to increase the number of tourists.

In 2013, during the first three months of the year for instance, the number of foreign tourists visiting the region increased by 14.5%, and that’s a pretty decent number.

We’ll just have to wait and see if and which result this new approach will have on the future of the region’s tourism.

And it appears that starting with the month of June the Algarve and Seville started working together in order to promote each other as tourist destinations. This new cooperation being made possible by the signing of a protocol between the Algarve Tourism Board and the Diputacion Provincial de Sevilla – or Seville Country Council – on June 10.

According to Desiderio Silva – president of Algarve Toruism – the goal of the Algarve is to have a much greater visibility as a tourism destination in Spain. The idea of securing this protocol, which will be reciprocal in terms of promotion, is just one way of achieving this goal and allowing the Algarve tourism industry to materialize projects that value both the Algarvean and the Andalusian territories.

The ceremony to ratify the document took place in Faro on June 19.

This tourism alliance wants to make the Algarve one of the main travel choices for Spanish holidaymakers, hoping to, at the same time, enhance the Iberian destinations in the eyes of Algarvians through promoting the Spanish complementary tourism products throughout the year.

During the ratification ceremony, Desiderio Silva said that the protocol should also help to ‘increase the number of Spanish visitors in the south of Portugal, and of Portuguese visitors in the province of Seville’ a desired outcome that will prove to be very positive for hotels, restaurants, and all around for the businesses in both countries.

At the ceremony, the vice-president of the Diputacion Provincial de Sevilla – Maria Dolores – was also present, and she presented Seville as a destination for Algarve residents.

According to the Tourism Board, the indicators are very positive in relation to the upcoming tourist season, especially when looking at the hotels’ preliminary spread sheets.

Desiderio Silva – the head of the regional Tourism Board – mentioned that there are units that are expecting their occupation rates until September or October to be much higher than what they initially predicted.

Speaking at the presentation of the Algarve Tourism Memorandum – a document lsiting various proposals as to how tourism can be improved within the region of the Algarve, Mr. Silva mentioned that this year both the French and the German markets have picked up after dropping in the number of tourists coming to Algarve in the past few years.

According to his estimations, the Algarve will most likely see more visitors from neighboring Spain as well, because due to the economic hardships they’ll opt for closer holiday destinations, and there are none closer than Portugal of course.

It is expected that more residents from Galicia and the Spanish Estremadura would more likely visit the Algave than those from actually neighboring Andalucia because they won’t have to pay any tolls on the motorways as opposed to the tolls required to get on the A22/Via do Infante.

The Algarve Tourist Memorandum features proposals based around the five pillars of air accessibility, touristic promotion, tax competitiveness, tourist products and the modernization of the destination as a whole.

We’ll just have to wait and see if these predictions actually come to fruition.

The study assessed 140 worldwide economies and took into consideration the competitiveness of these countries in regards to travel and tourism under the chosen theme of ‘Reducing barrier to economic growth and job creation’.

The report is meant to explore the potential and influence that the travel and tourism industries in general have in regards to a country’s economy and also takes into consideration the creation of jobs, which is essential for the proper development of any country.

So on this list of 140 countries, Portugal placed seventh, behind a couple of unexpected places such as Senegal – sixth – and Macedonia – fourth. The top three friendliest places are Iceland, New Zealand and Morocco.

The President of the Algarve Tourism Board, Desiderio Silva, stated that this favorable positioning of the entire country is thanks to the tourism industry’s approach to its visitors’ needs and requests. The Portuguese people being hospitable in general, but when helped by high quality products in all facets of tourism, coupled with the natural beauty, warm climate and unique gastronomy and culture of the country, it can only boost the way in which they’re perceived by foreigners.

We would like to add that all of the characteristics that we mentioned earlier are available in spades in the Algarve, which can be seen as a microcosm of everything that is great tourism-wise, about the country.

The study has also taken a series of other factors into account, such as the overall tourism infrastructure, economic, legal, environmental and cultural factors, as well as the tourism labor market.

Overall, the various indicators place Portugal in 20^th place when the other placements are taken into account.

It appears that a similar project is underway for regional tourism as well, because what better place to start promoting one’s touristic capabilities than in one’s own country.

The project is called ‘Rediscovering the Algarve’s Secrets’ and is part of the tourism authority’s push to show both journalists and tour operators alike some of the region’s hidden gems. Focusing on the ‘hidden’ part might just be one of the things needed to boost the region’s tourism, since the major gems are quite popular by now.

The first of these ‘familiarization trips’ will be held in Alcoutim on April 18 and the twenty participants will be exploring the region as well as its tourism potential as well as partake in a number of special activities prepared for their enjoyment.

A statement from Desiderio Silva – the president of the Algarve Tourism Board – said that journalists are needed to be made aware of the Algarve from a different perspective, so that they can then in turn help to ‘sell’ the destination much better through their own experiences. The idea behind  this initiative being that the Algarve has many more points of interest with high tourist potential that are not known to the wider holiday-making public, and this will definitely help.

Other familiarization trips are planned to take place until the end of the year, with the next one taking place in Albufeira in May.

A great idea, and quite an innovative one, showing that the Algarve Tourism Board is seriously looking into all sorts of solutions to their overall problems; the effects of this project won’t be very large and most likely won’t be seen for a couple of months at least, but they project is definitely a step in the right direction.

This is the second time running that the Algarve golf region gets the top spot, ahead of Turkey and Murcia, getting forty-three percent of the votes. On the whole the Algarve was also the one to get the most awards – six in total.

This means that the Algarve also got the top awards in categories such as Best Golf Course in Portugal and Best Hotel/Resort in Portugal – the awards went to Oceanico Old Course in Vilamoura and Vale do Lobo respectively.

The award-winning Oceanico Old Course – located in the heart of Vilamoura – is one of the oldest courses in the region and is well-known all around the world. The Oceanico Golf CEO was thrilled with the news of winning the award and commented that it is testament to the hard work of the entire team that works there. It would indeed appear that many golfers continue to grace its perfectly maintained classic layout, despite the very strong competition from newer courses.

The president of the Algarve Tourism Board also commented on the new awards saying that the Algarve golf has around forty golf courses and that more than one million rounds are played on these coruses each year. That’s not a coincidence, the courses having garnered many international awards during the years and these latest ones only add to the reputation of the region.

Today’s Golfer has only been giving out the Travel Awards for two years, however the magazine reaches more than two-hundred thousand British golfers each month in total, and that is the most important tourist market for the Algarve, not necessarily the golfers – although they are important – but the UK market in general.

Why has this not happened sooner? Well the protest was sparked by the decision of the Portuguese Government to not extend the exemption granted to residents beyond the end of September, even if by all accounts the tourism sector was on the whole expecting it.

Eliderico Viegas, a major representative of the Algarve tourism sector said that when it comes to these tolls there should be no discrimination between residents of the Algarve and those visiting, so they tolls should be suspended completely; further stating that the introduction of the tolls has shown to be an anti-tourism decision and thus against the interests of the entire region.

He backed up these claims by pointing out the fifty percent reduction in traffic on the A22 highway and a whopping twenty percent drop in the number of tourists coming from Spain, saying that these were enough reasons to eliminate the tolls immediately. The Algarve car rental industry and Faro airport transfers services has seen some problems as well.

Antonio Pina, the President of the Algarve Tourism Board, said that he too wasn’t surprised by the Government’s decision but also mentioned that it does threaten to be the ‘blow that would sink the Tourism Algarve ship’, pretty strong words indeed.

He continued to say that there is an urgent need to completely suspend the A22 tolls as well as oppose any and all attempt by the Government to either extend or withdraw any exemption for residents because this is an unacceptable discriminatory policy.

Will the 1^st of October protest combined with these harsh words from leading figures in the Algarve tourism sector sway the Government in any way? We have no way of knowing that, we’ll just keep an eye on what happens in the future of A22 toll and report on it.