In the monthly hotel occupancy data released by its research office, the Association of Hotels and Tourist Enterprises of the Algarve (AHETA) highlighted that, “in accumulated terms, since the beginning of the year”, the occupancy per room “is 13.7% below” the value recorded in the same period of 2019, the last year in which tourist activity was not affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The year-on-year variation is justified by the pandemic caused by the Covid-19 virus, whose impact on the hotel industry began to be felt at the beginning of March 2020. The average occupancy rate in the last twelve months dropped to 41.2%”, said AHETA in a statement, stressing that “the 740% increase compared to March 2021 corresponds to a decrease of 10.9% compared to the same month of 2019”.

Lagos popular

With regard to geographical areas, AHETA recorded the “biggest increases” in Lagos/Sagres, with 8.7% more, and Vilamoura/Quarteira/Quinta do Lago, with 14.5% more, while the “main drops” were felt in Monte Gordo/Vila Real de Santo António, with 41.3% less, in Carvoeiro/Armação de Pera, with 29.8% less, and Albufeira, with 23.9% less, added the Algarve association, compared to March 2019.

“The Faro/Olhão area registered the highest occupancy rate, 64.1%, while the lowest occurred in the Monte Gordo/Vila Real de Santo António area, with 31.6%”, quantified the association.

Five star hotels

Five-star hotels and aparthotels fell the most in March, compared to the same period in 2019, with a drop of 23.0%, followed by four-star hotels, with 17.0% less, AHETA also pointed out, which registered the biggest rises in hotels and aparthotels with three and two stars, with growth of 24.7%.

“Three and two star hotels and aparthotels were the ones with the highest occupancy rate (57.4%). The lowest occupancy occurred in 5-star hotels and aparthotels (39.2%)”, he explained.

More French

As for the markets that send tourists, French (49% more) and Irish (27.8% more) rose the most, compared to March 2019, while the biggest decreases were registered in German (40.1% less) and in Dutch (16.4% less), also indicated AHETA.