In provisional monthly data released by its research office, the Algarve Hotels and Tourism Developments Association (AHETA) highlighted the importance that Portuguese visitors have had on the operation of Algarve accommodation units, in the face of the drop in incoming tourists from European markets, such as the UK or Germany.

“The overall average occupancy rate/room was 43.1 percent, 45.3 percent below the value recorded in 2019 (-35.7 percentage points). The domestic market increased 8.4 percent and the external market decreased 67.6 percent,” the Algarve business association quantified in a statement, stressing that these figures relate only to “the developments in operation, since in June many were still closed” because of the impact of Covid-19 on the tourist operation.

The cumulative data since January 2021 also shows that “room occupancy registers an average decrease of 76.0 percent”, while sales volume fell “78.9 percent compared to the same period of 2019”, the last year in which the tourist operation ran without restrictions, before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, whose effects were felt from March 2020.

As for the impact of occupancy per room by geographical areas, “compared to June 2019, the decreases ranged from minus 52.6 percent in Albufeira to minus 21.7 percent in Tavira,” the business association, based in Albufeira, in the district of Faro, also noted.