“The British market was the one that most contributed to the decrease in the occupancy rate (-18.4 percent), followed by the Irish (-4.2 percent), French (-2.8 percent) and German (-2.6 percent),” informed the Association of Hotels and Tourist Enterprises of the Algarve (AHETA) in the summary of the monthly evolution of the sector’s activity.

According to AHETA data, the national market was the only one to rise (+6.4 percentage points), representing 67.7 percent of total overnight stays in the Algarve.

The sales volume decreased 36.5 percent compared to August last year.

According to the association of the Algarve’s hotel business, the results for August “were influenced” by the increase in demand from the British market compared to July, with the opening of the air corridor between the United Kingdom and Portugal on 20 August, and by demand from the domestic market compared to the same period last year.

“Domestic demand was concentrated in the month [August] due to the existence of more available supply and more affordable prices, at the expense of demand in July and September,” the association maintains.

In accumulated terms, since January, the occupancy/room rate registers an average decrease of 58.1 percent and the sales volume a decrease of 56.8 percent.