“The average overall occupancy rate per room was 68.4 percent, up 12.1 [percentage points] from April 2018, with the Easter season having positively influenced the results,” the Algarve Tourist Resorts and Hotels Association (AHETA) said in a statement.


Growth in turnover kept pace with that of occupancy, in April up 9 percent on a year earlier.


In comments to Lusa News Agency, the AHETA’s president, Elidérico Viegas, noted that “the fact that the Easter holidays were in the middle of the month, originating greater demand for the Algarve from the domestic Spanish and British markets, contributed to the excellent occupancy rate.”


There was, he said, “a significant increase” in demand above all from Spanish and Portuguese visitors, “in line with the trend observed in recent years.”


Bookings from Spanish visitors more than doubled (up 105 percent), from Portuguese were up almost 40 percent, and from the UK almost 10 percent. Demand from France and the Netherlands was down 32 percent and 19 percent respectively.


Overall, Viegas said, occupancy rates appear not to have been affected by the strike by drivers of fuel tankers, “contrary to what was feared”.
According to provisional data from AHETA, the average occupation per room in April was the highest in the month since at least 1999, when a rate of 67.7 percent was registered.