“The Algarve region in 2023 could have a number of around eight million overnight stays [in local accommodation] that were not counted for the purposes of the INE [National Institute of Statistics] and that are not counted for the financing of regional entities [of tourism]. This is extremely important and negative for the Algarve, in particular”, André Gomes told journalists in Faro.

Local accommodation in the Algarve region has more than 43,700 registrations, around 42,800 of which have less than 10 beds and are not counted by INE, a situation that occurs nationally.

“The growing importance of local accommodation is not (properly) reflected in the evaluation of the region’s (or country’s) performance. In fact, the national statistical system only presents search results referring to local accommodation units with 10 or more beds (2.1% in the Algarve)”, which “neglects around 143 thousand of the beds in the Algarve (90.5% of the total beds in local accommodation in the region)”.

As one of the main indicators to define the financing of regional entities is precisely the performance in terms of overnight stays, André Gomes pointed to “underfunding given the weight of the region”.

Based on an exercise carried out with Eurostat data relating to reservations recorded since 2018 on local accommodation reservation platforms, PMETA indicates that “in 2023 alone, around 8.7 million overnight stays will be disregarded in the Algarve's tourist performance, or more than 202 million euros in revenue”.

“The Algarve is being financed based on the 20.4 million overnight stays recorded by INE in 2023 when in reality it was a region that had close to 29 million overnight stays”, reinforced André Gomes.

At stake, highlighted the president of the Algarve Tourism Region, could be a financing amount “in the order of four to five million euros”.

“When we are talking about annual budgets for tourism entities in the Algarve of around 10 million [euros], we could be talking here about a loss of around five million euros,” he said.

The document guiding the tourist activity strategy for the Algarve presented today defines the main lines of action and goals until 2028, with the aim of continuing to establish “a competitive tourist destination, developed in a sustainable way, recognized nationally and internationally for the quality and diversity of its offering, and capable of providing memorable experiences all year round.”

Four objectives are defined (increase competitiveness, deconcentrate demand, diversify markets and commitment to sustainability), and five axes of action (value the territory and communities, boost the economy, enhance knowledge, generate networks and connectivity, and design the Algarve).

“We hope to see an entire region guide and put the aspect of this strategy into its actions and activity plans. Basically, this is what we intend: to leave a path that the region must follow in terms of the tourism sector to achieve these goals and objectives, some of them measurable by 2028”, highlighted André Gomes.

Compared to official figures for 2023, the Algarve expects to see in 2028 increases of 10% in passenger movement at Gago Coutinho International Airport, 4.1% in foreign overnight stays and 12% in total revenue.