Everything already pointed to the 2015 tourist year been very good and the figures compiled by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) confirmed that, last year, Algarve tourism broke several records.
Official figures reveal that the Airport of Faro reached the unprecedented threshold of 6,4 million passengers transported, the hotel business had the highest total income ever and never had so many rounds of golf been played in the region.
The statistics for the 2015 tourist year were released by the Algarve Tourism Region, which highlighted that reality has confirmed «what the known indicators already hinted at», namely «that 2015 was a year of «records».
«It was a positive year for hotels and tourism in the Algarve, which was observed after the year of all records [2014] and the Algarve remains the main tourist region in the country, concentrating more than a third of all overnight stays in Portugal. But these very encouraging results are also a consequence of the growing involvement of private partners with the Algarve Tourism Region, the Algarve Tourism Association and the municipalities», considered the president of RTA Desidério Silva.
Among the good news for the past year is the new annual high reached by the Airport of Faro, which grew 4,4 percent, to the 6,4 million passengers handled.
"By market, the United Kingdom is the clear leader, with around 3,5 million passengers (+2,8%) and a 54 percent share in Faro. This is followed by Germany, with 721 thousand passengers (+4,9%), Ireland, with 588 thousand (+7,6%) and the Netherlands, with 564 thousand (3,2%)», announced the RTA.
The markets that had the greatest homologous growth, in terms of passengers transported to and from Faro, were those of France (+20,7%, to 196 thousand), Belgium (+14,3%, to 150 thousand), Spain (+13,9%, to 106 thousand) and Switzerland (+79,1% , to 92 thousand). "The average occupancy rate per plane was 88 percent in 2015, indicating a year-on-year increase of 2,6 percentage points," added Turismo do Algarve.
As far as hospitality is concerned, the "picture" had already been painted last week by AHETA, which announced an increase in revenue higher than the occupancy rate, which means that the hotel industry not only managed to have more rooms occupied, but also managed to charge a higher amount for that occupancy.
A reality that was greeted by the business association, by Algarve hoteliers and by Desidério Silv himselfa, in statements to the Sul Informação.
INE's figures point to an increase in total income, compared to the previous year, of 10,2 percent (AHETA announced 8,6, in the universe of its members). In cash, this means that "the record value of 758 million euros" has been reached, according to the RTA.
Of the indicators revealed by INE, the one that is furthest away from those of the business association are the overnight stays of Portuguese tourists, which the institute says have dropped 3,1 percent, to 3,8 million, when hoteliers say they have hosted 4,1, 2015 million overnight stays from national tourists, in XNUMX.
Golf numbers were also known. In this case, it was the Algarve Tourism Association that revealed that, in 2015, 1,2 million rounds of golf were played, which dictated the surpassing of «the results of 2007, the best year for golf in the region before the financial crisis. that plunged the European economy into recession».
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