Portugal continues to be a top choice for travellers as results from the central and southern regions of the country point to continued growth, especially among domestic tourists.
Tourism activity in the Algarve region recorded positive signs in the first half of 2019, according to data released by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), which indicates a 7.9 per cent increase in total revenues (reaching €431.3 million). 9.3 per cent in the number of guests (with a total of 2.17 million guests) and 3.3 per cent in overnight stays (with a total of 8.62 million overnight guests) compared to the same period of 2018.
Contributing to these results were the positive performance of the domestic market again, with an additional 12.8 percent of guests (a total of 592,000) and an additional 11.3 percent of overnight stays (a total of 1.70 million Portuguese overnight stays), as well as the growth of foreign tourists with 8 percent more guests (total 1.58 million) and 1.5 percent more overnight stays (6.91 million non-resident overnight stays).
The main foreign market is Great Britain, followed by Germany and the Netherlands
Contrary to the results of the last two years, the British market grew, and during the first half of 2019, there was an increase of 6.8 per cent in the number of guests (total of 548,600) and 1.9 per cent in overnight stays (total 2.64 million). When analysing overnight stays, this was indeed the main foreign market for tourism performance in the region, followed by Germany (with 833,700 overnight stays) and the Netherlands (with 603,300 overnight stays).
Also noteworthy is the contribution of the Italian market, which saw a significant increase of 61.5 per cent in the number of guests (total of 32.200) and 62 per cent in overnight stays (total of 99.100). Also relevant was the growth of emerging markets such as Brazil, which increased by 30.6 per cent in the number of guests.
Growth was also registered in airport traffic in the Algarve, with an additional 6.6 per cent, totalling 2.01 million passengers landing at Faro airport.
To João Fernandes, president of the Algarve Tourism Region (RTA) “the tourist results of this first semester are positive, mainly because they reflect a growth of income above demand, as well as the commitment of public and private operators to strengthen the Algarve as a tourist destination”.
“Thanks to our joint work, we can maintain a good performance in the UK market, despite the uncertainty generated by Brexit. But we have also been able to achieve growth in key issuing markets such as Brazil and the US, reflecting the effectiveness of the ongoing market diversification plans.”
The number of overnight stays in Portugal’s central region has also shown considerable growth with increases in June by 11.4 per cent compared to the same period of 2018, representing more than double the national average, the central region tourism body (Turismo Centro Portugal) announced.
June 2019 “was extremely positive” for tourism in the region.
“In total overnight stays, year-on-year figures recorded an increase of 11.4 per cent. There were 610,021 in June 2018 and 679,658 in the same month of 2019. In other words, there were 69,637 more overnight stays. This increase of 11.4 per cent was more than double the national average, which stood at 5.6 per cent”.
The increase was more notable once again among domestic visitors, whose overnight stays grew 14.8 per cent, indicating that the region continues to be one of the favourites of the Portuguese for holidays or a few days of rest.
Foreigners’ overnight stays registered an increase of 7.8 per cent and the number of guests grew 13.1 per cent.
“These positive figures confirm a clear trend of recent years: The central region of Portugal is growing rapidly throughout the year and is the choice of more and more visitors, both from inside and outside the country”.
Source: The Portugal News
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