Compared to December 2019, a year in which tourist activity had not yet been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the last month of 2023 suffered a drop of 1.2 percentage points, noted the Association of Hotels and Tourist Enterprises of the Algarve (AHETA).

“The room occupancy rate was 34.8%, 1.4 percentage points above that seen in 2022 and 1.2 percentage points below that seen in December 2019”, quantified AHETA in the monthly statement in which it publishes the compiled data on the occupancy rate per room in units operating in the region.

The same source highlighted that the tourist-sending markets that contributed most to the year-on-year increase of 1.4 percentage points recorded in December “were the Dutch, with 0.6 percentage points more, the German and Irish, both with 0. 2 percentage points”.

As for geographical areas, the Vilamoura/Quarteira/Quinta do Lago area, made up of three of the main tourist locations in the municipality of Loulé, and Albufeira saw the biggest rise compared to December 2022, with more than 4.8 and more than 1.9 percentage points, respectively.

“The average stay was 3.5 nights, 0.1 above that recorded in the same month of 2022”, AHETA also pointed out, specifying that “the longest average stays were those in the Swedish market, with 8.7 nights, and of the Dutch market, with 7.2”.