The Azores once again increased the number of overnight stays in tourist accommodation in February, with a rise of 11.4%, after two months of year-on-year reductions. The data comes from the Regional Statistics Service (SREA).
“In February, all tourist accommodation establishments (hotels, apartment hotels, tourist apartments, guest houses, local accommodation units and rural tourism units) in the Azores recorded 154,800 overnight stays, 11.4% more than in the same month of the previous year,” reads the SREA’s tourism activity report for February, released yesterday.
The region saw a 5.4% drop in overnight stays in tourist accommodation in December and a 2.5% drop in January, which was more pronounced among domestic tourists.
In February, the number of overnight stays by tourists resident in Portugal (86.3 thousand) increased again (8.5%), accounting for more than half of the total (55.7%).
Nonetheless, foreign tourists showed more remarkable growth (15.2%), with a total of 68,500 overnight stays, equivalent to 44.3% of the total.
Among the foreign markets, the United States of America “stands out as the main source market, with 13.7 thousand overnight stays” (20.1% of overnight stays from residents abroad) and “a year-on-year growth of 30.7%”.
This was followed by Germany, with 9,300 overnight stays (13.5%), albeit down 3.5% on the same period last year, and Canada, with 9,300 overnight stays (13.5%), which grew by 45.3%.
The growth of the Canadian and US markets was only surpassed by the Polish market, which saw a year-on-year increase of 114.7%.
The markets of Hungary (-40.1%), Austria (-31.7%), and Israel (-22.3%) all fell.
According to the SREA, “hotels accounted for 63.9% of all overnight stays (99,000), followed by local accommodation with 33.5% (51,900) and rural tourism with 2.5% (3,900)”.

Increase on six islands.
Considering only the two leading tourist accommodation establishments, hotels and local accommodation, which accounted for 97.5% of total overnight stays in February, the islands with the most significant year-on-year increases were Faial (31.2%), Santa Maria (31.1%), and Graciosa (21.7%).
Pico (12.5%), Terceira (11%), and São Miguel (10.1%) also saw an increase in the number of overnight stays, while Corvo (-24.4%), São Jorge (-20.5%) and Flores (-3.5%) saw a drop.
With 110.6 thousand overnight stays, the island of São Miguel, the largest in the archipelago, accounted for 73.3% of the total overnight stays in hotels and local accommodations. Terceira, with 23.6 thousand overnight stays (15.6%), Faial, with 7.5 thousand overnight stays (5.0%), and Pico, with 4.1 thousand overnight stays (2.7%), followed.

in Diário Insular-José Lourenço, director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.