Why do we all love the Algarve?
A recent survey by Schofields a holiday insurance firm has thrown some light on what families look for in a holiday destination. More than 2000 holidaymakers were asked to rate five different holiday destinations on a range of criteria including entertainment food and local welcome.
The destination that was rated most highly over all was Portugal. The next three best rated destinations were Greece the United Kingdom and Italy. Portugal achieved excellent results in all categories and finished with a score of 41 out of a possible 50.
Visitors rated the accommodation 9/10 the food 8/10 the entertainment 7/10 and the local welcome 8/10. The felt that the overall enjoyment factor of a holiday in Portugal was 9/10.
The Algarve region of southern Portugal is an established favourite with holidaymakers and these results show that it’s popularity is not likely to wane in the near future.
Why Portugal?
As the survey results have shown Portugal is a great place to go on holiday with your family. Part of the attraction must be the diversity of activities on offer and the fact that Portugal is becoming a year-round destination.
While Albufeira, Carvoeiro and Faro have maintained their popularity with tourists who in many cases look for nothing more than the opportunity to soak up the summer sun for a week or two. There is much more to Portugal than that. There are historic cities like Lisbon to explore where you can discover the history of Portugal in the morning before indulging in a shopping trip in the afternoon.
Portugal can boast fairytale castles that your children will marvel at and spend many hours exploring. For the more active members of the party there are cliff-top paths to hike with views that will take their breath away.
For the dedicated winter sports addict there is even the possibility of skiing to look forward to in Serra de Estrela mountains in the west of the country.
Portugal is a great destination at any time of year
It doesn’t matter whether your ideal holiday involves no more activity than the occasional dip in the sea or whether you are a committed sports enthusiast keen to try out every sport you can you will find that Portugal is the perfect destination whatever time of year you choose to visit.
Not quite everything in the survey went Portugal’s way though There was one consolation for the British tourist industry that can be drawn from the survey results. While Portugal was shown to be the highest rated destination overall with the UK only coming third there was one category that was topped by the United Kingdom.
Those who did take their holidays in the UK said that they were twice as likely to revisit the same destination than those who had spent their holiday at any other European destination. If this statistic remains constant it is likely that the British tourist industry may soon start to see significant growth as more tourists discover the country and continue to return there in the years to come.
