The Algarve is one destination that has seen rapid growth in the development of villa and apartment complexes. Golf resorts in particular have gained special licensing attention and the investment by established developers such as Oceânico has added bespoke quality to the Algarve holiday rental market and attracted holidaymakers from far flung corners of the earth.

Portugal as a whole is up to 35% cheaper than other European destinations, but with the introduction of a F1 race track in Portimao and numerous award winning golf courses and beaches, Portugal is capable of attracting all sorts of tourists.

Portugal Villa Renters is just one source for holiday villas and apartments. The site has over 300 owner listed properties, many of which start as little as EUR200 per week. Portugal Villa Renters is also Portugal’s most visited vacation rental website as verified by Compete.com. Its little wonder that holiday home owners are choosing Portugal Villa Renters as the authoritative rental advertiser for Portugal. As a niche site for Portugal, there are no confusing destination ideas that spring up and put the site visitor off course. We only advertise vacation rental properties in Portugal and that’s how we’ll keep it.

So, in conclusion, Portugal may surprise you as a destination. You may have visited the Algarve before, but you can be assured that there is more to Portugal than resort style package holidays. Renting a villa with a pool or apartment with a golf fairway view may be cheaper that what you paid on your last package holiday and it may surprise you just how much you get for your money. The economic crises has posed some great holiday rental opportunities for travellers. Not only have airfares dropped by around 12%, but hundreds, if not thousands of holiday property owners are struggling to keep up with their payments. Renting out their holiday property is a great idea to stay financially afloat and perhaps make a decent profit out of the process too. In the end, you gain a fantastic holiday in Portugal for a fraction of what it costs elsewhere.

For more information or to book your next holiday villa in Portugal, please visit Portugal Villa Renters

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Blessed with stunning natural beauty and year-round sunshine, Portugal offers crystal clear seas and a wealth of activities to suit even the most discerning world traveller.

The Portuguese coastline is a holidaymaker’s dream. Frequently hailed as one of the best golf destinations in the world, high-end resorts and world class courses sit side by side with an abundance of health and wellness spas that make the most of the scenery and tranquility on offer.

For the adventurous, Portugal offers some of Europe’s best deep-sea fishing as well as every kind of water sport an enthusiastic tourist could dream of. But it’s where the ‘rolling plains end in unspoilt beaches’ that’s the real attraction.

The Portuguese coastline boasts nearly 200 Blue Flag beaches, many hidden from the main tourist trails by sheltered coves or decorated by countless colourful boats in picturesque fishing villages like Sesimbra – which also doubles as the fashionable weekend retreat of ‘well to do’ Lisbon families.

Alongside all the sunshine, beaches and activities – not to mention the glorious climate – Portugal’s history and heritage can almost be overlooked. Almost. From its Moorish legacies to modern day Lisbon, Portugal combines the past and the present with a timeless elegance. Whether you’re a history buff or simply in need of some old world culture, you can choose from UNESCO World Heritage sites like the magical cliff top village of Sintra or simply take in the quiet charms of historic towns like Guimarães, Évora or Angra do Heroísmo.

More than anything, it’s the pull of a more sedate and relaxed pace of life that bewitches visitors and keeps bringing them back for more. Perhaps it’s no wonder that over a third of Portugal’s tourists hail from the UK with many choosing the laid back lifestyle of evening strolls on the promenade at Sesimbra or the café terraces of Porto as ideal holiday home destinations.

Given all that Portugal has to offer it’ll come as no surprise to know that tourist figures have risen dramatically over the last decade – extending well beyond the traditional Algarve destinations. So what now for the future?

The world wide economic woes of 2008 have hit tourist figures in Portugal as they have in many other destinations – although gross guest numbers for the first eight months of 2008 are actually up on the same period last year. It’s clear that the hey day of cheap flights and even cheaper properties has gone; but while hotel stays from international tourists have fallen by around 4%, the home grown market has blossomed – attracting almost 4% more overnight stays from Portuguese citizens in 2008. It seems that the Portuguese are increasingly discovering Portugal for themselves and helping to keep tourism as one of the country’s most important industries.

Portugal is almost uniquely blessed by the perfect climate and stunning natural beauty but it offers much more than just golf resorts and beach holidays. Even the government’s plans for the promotion of tourism in Portugal realise what makes ‘Europe’s west coast’ so special. They are promoting four things: ‘climate and light,’ ‘history, culture and tradition,’ ‘hospitality’ and ‘diversity.’

Four great reasons to visit any country.

For information on buy to let hotel room developments and the tourist market in Portugal visit >> Owner Invest [http://ownerinvest.com/]: Buy Hotel Rooms and Invest in Tourism.

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Since, southern Portugal is more urbane and commercialized than central and northern Portugal, you would like to explore the latter part of Portugal if you want a taste of rural culture here. Car hire in Portugal will help you explore all these locations and will also help you to visit the urban places in Portugal, if you want to. In addition to that, you can also enjoy the small village atmosphere with vineyards, wheat fields, plenty of olive groves, etc. You can also take a farmhouse or village hut on rent to enjoy the real rural Portugal atmosphere and countryside, where you can even find a swimming pool on occasions.

In fact, if you are looking for a place for rent anywhere in Portugal, staying in rural Portugal will give you a large saving on your stay. This is because renting properties in urban location is pretty much expensive than staying in rural Portugal location. In addition to this, you can opt for car hire in Portugal that will help you to go places farther away and enjoy Portugal cities like Lisbon, Algarve and Faro, Porto, etc.

Another benefit of exploring rural Portugal countryside will be to enjoy other sports and relaxation events that will be available very near to you. For example, a proximity to natural sites like forests and mountains will help you to enjoy adventure sports like mountaineering, hiking, visiting natural sites, camping, etc. You can also relax here by enjoying natural hot spring spas available in villages present among the Portugal mountain ranges. Also, sports clubs like Gulf clubs, Tennis and badminton clubs will be more nearer to you among lush green fields of Portugal. If you enjoy photography, countryside will offer you more opportunity than busy Portugal cities.

If you are staying far inland with car hire in Portugal, you can drive to sunny beaches and enjoy water sports too. So, if you are more leaned towards enjoying the silent, but adventurous ambiance of Portugal countryside; a cheap property renting coupled with comfortable car hire in Portugal will give you the best deal here.

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2. Strong Tourist Demand
Portugal is among the top 20 most visited destinations in the world and it is incredibly popular with the Brits. Eleven million visitors travelled to Portugal last year (figures taken from the World Travel and Tourism Council), and the tourism based growth will be in the region of at least 3% annually from now until 2017 which means anyone buying hotel rooms in Portugal on a buy to let scheme will see their ROI (return on investment) come to fruition very quickly.

3. Property Prices
The Algarve has seen prices double in the last ten years and the latest statistics suggest that prices increased by 6% in 2006 and up to 10% in 2007/2008. This is proving that Portugal properties still have a high buy to let demand. This is good to know as anyone joining the market can exit the market smoothly and efficiently.

4. British Tourism & Expatriates Lifestyle
Portugal has been a British favourite for years, it is only a two and a half hour journey by plane and almost a quarter of the tourism into Portugal comes from the UK. Portugal boasts excitement, passion and a history that is a fundamental part of the Portuguese way of life. Similar to the Spanish, the Portuguese have a slower pace of life, a sunny climate, excellent food and wine and with over three hundred days of sunshine a year – imagine that! Despite all the golf courses and the tourist attractions, Portugal also has wonderful beaches and for the more country folk – mountains for great walks, wildlife and natural beauty. All of these reasons are an advantage to why buy to let investments are rife in Portugal right now, making it cheaper to buy property in Portugal than it is in the UK.

5. Buy to Let
Portugal is a popular destination offering fantastic weather, stunning beaches, tourist attractions, activities for entertainment, sporting activities, great food, wine and a diverse way of life. The appeal of Portugal is huge and growing annually, making buy to let Portuguese property in very high demand. Buy to let offers the buyer a few weeks a year where you get to enjoy your purchase while the rest of the time you gain an instant income from holidaymakers, golfers, family and friends.

Buying a hotel room in a country like Portugal is a fantastic opportunity as you are almost guaranteed returns on your investment instantly! The majority of the buy to let properties you buy will offer you some form of a management service or letting service so you can kick back, relax and generate your retirement income.

Buy to let mortgages are available from UK banks for Britons, this process is well documented making it easy for Britons to invest in buy to let apartments.

6. Portugal is easily accessible and affordable
EasyJet, Ryanair, British Airways, Monarch, Jet2 are among some of the regular airlines that offer cheap, direct flights into Portugal from the UK.

7. Portugal Politics
Portugal was admitted to the European Economic Community (now EU) on January 1st, 1986 and on February 16th, 1986, Mario Soares became the country’s first civilian president in 60 years. Elected in 2005 under a strong reform mandate, Prime Minister Jose Socrates is undertaking ambitious measures to lower Portugal’s deficit and strengthen the economy, improve general conditions for population and they have been accepted internationally for having a strong and intelligent police force. As part of the country’s economic plan, Portugal will invest 10 billion Euros in infrastructure in the next 5 years, making use of the European Union’s structural and cohesion funds that are still available to them.

8. High Level of Investment into Infrastructure Projects
Portugal’s government is literally pouring billions of euros into the country’s infrastructure. This was not only because of the economic improvement due to the European integration, but also because the country received support in financing its infrastructure projects from the union’s funds. The expansion of additional roads, dams, ports, new international airport, new metro system, modernisation of the country’s railroad system and an upgrade of the natural gas pipeline systems are all part of Portugal’s attempt to improve their infrastructure. As a result, the country has a well developed transportation network with 59,100 Kilometres of paved roads. This is good news for anyone thinking of investing into buy to let schemes in Portugal.

9. Tax Purposes
Portugal has the lowest corporation tax in the whole of Western Europe, thus making it a popular destination for buy to let property. Portugal has policies in place that attract foreign investment such as offering attractive finance grants and additional tax breaks. Since the mid-1980s the country had become especially competitive in attracting foreign investment. These attractions included political stability and a hospitable investment climate that included EC investment subsidies, the lowest wage scale among the EC-12, and programs of economic deregulation and privatisation, as well as robust national economic and export growth.

10. A Decent and Robust Economy
Under the new leadership, Portugal’s economy has improved and is tipping around 1.6%. Over 200,000 of UK residents have already bought a property in Portugal for investment purposes, giving us another reason why buy to let property in Portugal is the investment of 2008.

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