The data was shared by the National Statistics Institute (INE), which indicates a record income value of 570.5 million euros in the first semester of the year for the country’s main holiday destination.

Compared to 2022, the first 6 months of 2023 saw the Algarve gain 13.5% more guests, up to 2.2 million, and 13.2% more overnight stays, up to 8.5 million. In this period, earnings increased by 19.4% from last year and Faro Airport recorded a 20.6% increase in passenger volume. To the president of the Algarve Tourism Region (RTA), “This semester’s results are very exciting, registering the best numbers we’ve ever had in accommodation earnings and growing in all the main performance factors compared to 2022, opening the way for a positive report of the region’s tourism activity at the end of the year.”

Comparing the destination’s results from 2023 compared to those of 2019, the semester balance is still positive, with more passengers coming through the airport (+5.2%), higher profits in tourist accommodation (+32.4%), more guests (+2.8%), and overnight stays practically on the same level as in that year (-0.8%), despite the break recorded in the last two months. “It’s noteworthy that the Algarve is growing more in value than in demand,” André Gomes concludes.

Among the markets where Algarvian accommodation has grown the most up to June, Ireland and the USA stand out, but Faro Airport also has more French, Dutch, Belgian, Italian, and Danish passengers than in 2019. Even the British, the region’s biggest external market, are very close to recovering to pre-pandemic levels.

The internal market, meanwhile, on par with the British in importance, saw growth above 2019 levels from January to April, in guests just as in stays. “Despite the fracture seen in May and June, we look with confidence to the number of national tourists on a global perspective, with the expectation that the rest of the Summer and mainly September will continue to grow us,” André Gomes considered.