Cascais council described the figure as representing “the best year ever” in terms of tourism and was the result of “the greatest number of overnight stays ever attained” by the county’s accommodation industry.
Hotels achieved an average room price of €88.24 and “the average room occupancy rate rose to 60 percent, the highest average ever”, the town hall elaborated.
In a statement the council said that tourism in 2014 was characterised by “more tourists, more rooms occupied, more overnight stays, more impact on the local economy and more employment.”
In international terms, Spain, the UK, France and Germany were the markets that most contributed towards the outcome even though the biggest growth was noted in the Chinese, Korean, Finnish, French and Swedish markets respectively.
According to Cascais Mayor Carlos Carreiras, last year’s figures are the result of “a strategy to reposition Cascais as a point of reference of quality in Portugal and the world.”
“Our strategy, which those numbers validate, is based on two axis: on one hand we are improving our land, by protecting environmental, cultural and built heritage; on the other hand, we are investing in big international events which consolidate the Cascais brand throughout the world, and in ‘niches’ such as health and well-being tourism, and ‘housing’ or business and congress tourism, which have been responsible for our sustained growth”, the Mayor said.
Mayor Carreira set the challenge of “improving all indicators” this year.