A recent survey lead by the country’s Tourism Board interview 834 tourists from seven countries during the months of August and September of this year and while more than ninety percent of them said that they’d be coming back, the other trends related to their behavior are important to take into account starting as soon as possible.

The reasons why people come to Portugal seems to be the weather with 67 percent of them saying that they would ‘definitely’ come back to Portugal sometime during the next three years, while 27 percent said that they’ll ‘probably’ be back within that same period. A whopping ninety-seven percent of Scandinavian tourists vowed to return to Portugal during this period.

The interesting facts come out when you compare this survey with last year’s and see some rather major changes that have taken place during this past year.

One of the major things that changed is that the interviewed tourists – coming from Spain, France, Brazil, the UK, Germany and the Netherlands – are starting to increasingly travel alone.

Solo travelers made up 16 percent of those asked to take part in the survey, as opposed to last year’s survey which numbered only seven percent in the same category.

Those who traveled with children dropped significantly as well, from 24 percent last year to nine percent this year, while traveling alongside fellow adults was almost the same, actually rising from 70 to 75 percent.

Another trend is that more holidaymakers are staying in the country for free, with friends or family, the number rising from 10 percent last year to 19 percent this year. At the same time villa and apartment rentals have fallen from 27 percent last year to just 12 percent this year.

Another major hike in percentages was seen when tourists said that they were staying at property belonging to them, this was up to six percent from last year’s one percent.

The Algarve and Lisbon are fighting each other amongst the tourism preferences, exchanging the number one stop between each other.

The percentage for last year was 83%, so there’s a clear upward trend there, many families choosing to rent holiday homes from private owners which reflect better value than traveling to a foreign country because overall cost was seen as the main factor in the holiday destination decision making.

As one might expect, the most popular destination for Portuguese tourists was the Algarve region, which hosted a solid 69% of the country’s internal holidaymakers.

The Beira Litoral and Minho regions saw large growths in demand of 72% and 45% respectively.

The overall tourist figures were boosted by the availability of cheap flights towards well-known destinations in the Algarve such as Faro, Lisbon and Oporto. The numbers were also helped by the the fact that the prices in the Algarve where less than if the equivalent purchases would’ve been made in northern Europe for instance. This might’ve also been a consideration behind the growth of Spanish and French visitors.

Portugal proved to be the fourth most popular country in Europe as far as people searching for places to rent, this representing 11% of the total number.

Another interesting data point that the study revealed was that the Portuguese holidaymakers are big believers in the idea of last minute booking, with 52% of Portuguese tourists who booked in July and August traveling in those same months.

As we mentioned earlier, renting private homes for vacations is becoming increasingly popular, the current economic climate making it a much more cost-effective way of ensuring accommodation during a holiday stay.

These numbers coordinate with those coming from various Algarve sources which has seen an increase in foreign visitors as well.

The 2012 edition of the festival was judged to be unsuccessful on several levels with the overall feedback from exhibitors indicating a lower than expected number of visitors and even the organizer, Portimao Urbis, admitted having lost money even considering, or maybe due to, it charging an entrance fee and attracting big name groups to the event.

Instead of trying again with the same setup and expecting different results, the festival’s management has decided to move the festival back to the people and just have one big party along the waterfront so that the local restaurants can heat up their grills and so that the entire local economy can benefit.

Historically speaking the sardine catch used to be unloaded at the quayside, so having the festival in this location is a fitting tribute. There are three famous outdoor restaurants here that have always served the freshest catch of the day possible, and after recent renovation the entire area is a pleasure to walk along.

Instead of the more limiting setup from last year, the 2013 Portimao Sardine Festival will see the people being invited to eat sardines in the local restaurants and the organizers will also make sure to add in a daily program of entertainment option along the waterfront.

Discussion are under way between the organizers and the restaurants to create a variety of suitable menus which will do the noble sardine full justice, as well as make them palatable to foreign tourists.

We should mention that the Portimao council is currently embroiled in the Portimao urbis scandal over funding and missing money so reducing the expenditure on this year’s festival shows some flexibility and sensible management in tune with local needs as well as maybe the requirements of the auditors.

Odiaxere is a small village found in the Lagos parish, a village not without its own charm but usually totally neglected by tourists because the EN125 makes up its main street and there is very little information about the place to begin with. And it’s a pity because the place has a long history that dates back to the Neolithic era.

Odiaxere makes for a great and little-known pit-stop in the greater Lagos region. The great advantage to the place not being a tourist hot-spot is that you can get some truly great traditional Portuguese food for considerably cheaper than you would in the more popular places. For instance you can expect to get the ‘plate of the day’ lunch for as little as six Euros, and that will include a glass of, usually, local wine. There’s a daily indoor market, as well as a couple of bars where the local meet and mingle.

Off the main road, you’ll find a garden square with lots of seating around a water feature. This is where you’ll see a rather large house with some impressive tile frontage as well as cast iron balcony. From the square you can also see the church and its impressive bell tower, the church having been rebuilt after the great earthquake of 1755. Its impressive stone-carved doorway is the original from the late 17^th century.

The Ribeir de Odiaxere will take you down to the ocean, it’s more of a stream than a small river actually, the Moorish word ‘odi’ meaning river.

One major characteristic of Odiaxere is that it used to be heavily involved in the salt industry and you can still see many salt beds, positioned in neat rows.

According to a statement released by the Lagos Town hall, the elevation of Lagos to city status is considered one of the most significant moments in local history because it was a clear recognition of the importance that the port town garnered.

This action led to the headquarters for the governors of the Kingdom of the Algarve to get set up in the city, as a result making it one of the most important locations in the history of the country. The upgrade to city status is also considered to have been crucial in Lagos being the place where the first ships sailed on the voyages of discovery, which in turn opened Europe up to the rest of the world and everything that those brought with them.

Starting with the 24^th of January the Lagos Town Hall is organizing a variety of cultural activities, which aim to promote the local cultural heritage as well as attract some tourists in the winter low-season.

On the 24^th of January the tourist guides and other professionals from the tourism sector will take part in a day-long seminar meant to refresh their knowledge in relation to Lagos’ cultural and archaeological heritage so that they can then better pass on this information onto their visitors.

The activity will be held in Portuguese and is free for tourism professionals  for those who registered to attend until the 21^st of January.

Also on the 24^th a book entitled “Legado do Conde de Ferreira no Algarve” – The Legacy of Count Ferreira in the Algarve – will be launched at the Cultural Centre at 4:30PM.

On the 25^th of January, guide Jose Antonio Martins will be carrying out a free guided tour of the historic centre of Lagos, an activity open to the general public which will take place between 10AM and 1PM.

Well while in the summer its high temperatures and warm waters definitely attract the most of its visitors, one should also be aware that during the winter season, while most of Europe is encased in rain, snow or ice, or all of them, the Algarve is still wonderfully sunny.

In fact for quite a few potential visitors the winter season is by far the best time to see what the Algarve has to offer thanks to several reasons, not least of which being the considerably lower prices than those that you’d find during the summer peak season.

Golfers enjoy the Algarve already, thanks to its large number of top-notch golf courses, the place is that much better during the winter season because the weather is great during the daylight hours to spend on a course. This wouldn’t be possible in the summer season except for those very accustomed to those types of temperatures.

Winter in the Algarve is great for those who don’t like visiting crowded places, because usually the region is quite crowded, however in the off-season the number of tourists is almost negligible, which makes for a much quieter and easier time, getting access to attractions and the like.

Despite it being winter though, the water might actually be acceptable to those who love a chilly dip, however you can totally be lucky enough to get some sunny days which will actually allow you to lounge on the beach for a bit of a tan, it can happen.

Whether you’re choosing this period to explore a new location, or whether you want to see how places like Albufeira, Carvoeiro or Vilamoura are during the winter, keep our Algarve car rental services in mind while on your winter Algarve holiday.

Most people will know by now that the Algarve is quite well known both in the Europe as well as all around the world for being a great tourist destination for those looking for sun, sand and wonderful weather all year-round.

That is still true however recently it appears that the Algarve will start being promoted as a health and wellbeing destination as well.

The first Congress on Health and Wellbeing Tourism took place in Faro on 9 November and it spawned the idea of promoting the Algarve region as an ideal destination for health and wellbeing as a way of attracting more tourists to the region and as a way of fighting growing unemployment.

The event consisted of the first general assembly of the Portuguese Association for health and Wellbeing Tourism, during which its commission for this new organization was also formed.

The  association was built on a national level and it will include members from throughout the country, including the islands of Madeira and the Azores, and also take into consideration the various sub-products related to health and wellbeing tourism.

The goal of the association is to improve the position of the region’s tourist appeal as a way of attracting more tourists to the region. By doing this they wish to boost profits for the partners that join the association and at the same time stimulate employment.

The thinking behind it is that as unemployment rises, so does criminality, and an increase in criminality will then have a negative effect on the tourism which would then spiral continuously downward.

Now this might be a bit odd considering how the concept of health and wellbeing tourism is linked with the private sector however the public sector has a very important role to carry out as well by guaranteeing the safety of the destination.

This is expected to have an effect on all the businesses in the region, including the Algarve car rental one.

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.