“The Tourism Indicator predicts that around 154,500 overnight stays will have been recorded in the month of February across the region in all tourist accommodation establishments (hospitality, local accommodation and tourism in rural areas)”, it reads in a SREA publication, published on its website.

According to the Regional Statistics Service, “the value of this estimate for overnight stays is 11.1% higher when compared to the provisional value for the same month (139,100)”.

In December, the number of overnight stays in the Azores fell by 5.4%, and in January it fell by 2.5%, compared to the same periods in the previous year.

The Tourism Indicator report also highlights the number of passengers disembarking at Azores airports in February, originating abroad and within the national territory (excluding between islands).

According to data previously revealed by SREA, passengers from international flights (9,603) increased by 34.5%, while travelers from the mainland and Madeira (55,715) increased by 5.2%.

The publication also highlights withdrawals and purchases from ATMs and automatic payment terminals (TPA) made by nationals (164.387 million euros) and foreigners (12.123 million euros), in February, in the Azores.

Purchases made at TPA reached 133.1 million euros (12.1% more than in the same period last year), of which 122.2 million with national bank cards (11.4% more) and 10.8 million with cards from international banks (plus 20.3%).

ATM withdrawals reached 43.5 million euros (2.2% more), of which 42.2 million were national (2.3% more) and 1.3 million were international (1.8% less).

According to SREA, the Tourism Indicator (IT) “aims to estimate the general evolution of economic activity in the tourism sector in the Autonomous Region of the Azores”.

"IT-Açores results from the addition of estimates of overnight stays recorded in the three types of tourist accommodation and is released approximately three weeks before the publication of the Tourist Activity highlight", the publication reads.

The estimate of overnight stays in the hotel sector as a whole, in rural tourism and local accommodation, "uses the values recorded in the Guest Stay Survey in Hotels and other accommodation" and the "extrapolation of trends according to the expected response rate in each case".