The Algarve Hotels and Tourism Developments Association (AHETA) has revealed the occupancy figures for last month and its president, Hélder Martins, highlighted that these figures are even better than those recorded in 2019, before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the provisional occupancy data for the previous month released by its research office, AHETA stressed that the "sales volume increased by 12.1% compared to the same month in 2019".

"The Algarve surpassed, in August, the figures of 2019, the best tourist year ever. The Algarve continues to see a recovery in the sector, after two terrible years due to the pandemic," said the president of AHETA, quoted in the statement in which the business association's research office reveals the provisional occupancy data for the previous month.

The source markets that contributed most to the 93.1 percent occupancy rate per room achieved in August were Portugal, up 5.5 percentage points, and Ireland, up 1.1 percentage points, AHETA said.

In contrast, those that "showed the biggest drops" were the "Spanish market (down 1.4 percentage points) and the German market (down 1.0 percentage points)," AHETA added.

"Albufeira, the Algarve's main tourist area, recorded a rise of 0.4 percentage points compared to 2019," AHETA, which is based in this municipality in the Faro district, also noted.