For the Algarve region, April and October are the months with the highest number of tourists. However, due to the new coronavirus pandemic, 2020 will be a different year.
In this case, the Algarve Hotel and Tourism Enterprises Association (AHETA) released to the media statistics on the Algarve tourism industry between August and October 2020. Usually, most tourists come from the UK. This year, they have seen the air passage closed and are obliged to comply with the 14-day quarantine rule after arriving in the UK. This factor have led to the fact that the British did not visit Portugal this year, a decrease of 626,000 people compared with the same period last year.
According to data released by AHETA, not only has the number of overnight stays dropped sharply, but golf tourism in the Algarve region has also dropped by 70%. Compared with the same month in 2019, Faro Airport received 5.3 million fewer passengers.
The decrease in the number of visitors from foreign countries is very obvious, especially in major foreign markets such as Germany (-74.4%) and the Netherlands (-67.3%). According to AHETA data, Ireland (-94.7%) and France (-73.2%) .
Between August and September, the results were more positive due to the growth of the domestic market. By 2020, Portuguese will account for approximately 62% of overnight stays in hotels and other similar venues. It is estimated that approximately 20% of tourist sites in the Algarve are closed between August and October.
