The Algarve Tourism Association (ATA) will participate, next week, in an event with dozens of North American tour operators. The objective is to make the region known, despite the postponement, to the summer of 2025, of the direct flight from Faro to New York.
With an agenda made up of ten and a half actions to be carried out throughout this year in Portugal and the USA, Algarve Tourism intends to make the flow of North American tourists even stronger, after an annual growth of over 27% in the number of guests in the last year.
Throughout this year, around two hundred people from that country will be invited to the region, including tour operators, journalists and influencers.
Anticipating the expansion of North American interest in the region, Turismo do Algarve says that «it has outlined ten and a half actions to be carried out throughout 2024, and which will include field visits with tour operators, journalists and influencers from that country».
The growing interest of North Americans in the Algarve is evident in the increase in the number of tourists.
In 2023, these were responsible for more than 480 thousand overnight stays at the destination, which corresponded to an increase of 24,1% compared to 2022 and a growth of 70,3% compared to 2019. With regard to the number of guests in 2023, a figure close to 180 thousand was reached, 27,3% more than in 2022 and 68% more compared to 2019.
«The USA is already the seventh most important foreign market in the region. Visitors to this country, together with those from Canada, look for, and find, in the Algarve, some of the best golf courses and beaches in Europe, at the westernmost point of our continent, less than seven hours' drive from the east coast of those countries. . The actions developed by Turismo do Algarve aim to accentuate the notoriety of the destination in its many aspects appreciated in the USA and Canada, which also include gastronomy, oenology and nature activities», explains André Gomes, president of Turismo do Algarve.
Despite the postponement to the summer of 2025 of the start of United Airlines operations in Faro, ATA says that «the increase in frequencies of the Canadian company Air Transat to the Algarve capital and the growth in demand for indirect connections to the Algarve, which has been registered, confirm the trend of greater interest in the destination and bring good perspectives”.
«The plan we developed obviously foresaw a series of actions around the launch of the United Airlines route to Faro, but it doesn’t end there. This change in plans does not affect our strategy for attracting tourists from the USA. There are a series of other opportunities that we are exploring and that will also have an impact on this market», adds André Gomes.
«From the conversations we have had with United Airlines, we note that the airline's enthusiasm for adding the Algarve to its portfolio of destinations continues», he says.
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