Tourism expects another record year
Demand for Portugal as a European destination just continues to rise and this is being reflected in both the number of visitors and also in revenues.
Although 2022 was a record year, seeing €22Bn in revenues, the sector is confident that this year the trend will remain the same with an expected economic return of €350 million.
According to the National Statistics Institute (INE), the first four months of the year already had 19.4 million overnight stays registered, with tourism accommodation revenues of over €1.3Bn – an increase of 30% on 2022
Pedro Machado, President of the Central Portugal Tourism Office, says that although it has been difficult to predict room take-up rates because of the trend in last minute bookings since the pandemic, he is confident about the summer. “From the establishments we’ve contacted, 25% have at least guaranteed booking at 85% for three months which is extremely positive for this period, especially in relation to August and September”, he said.
He added that tourism in the region for the first four months of 2023 had grown 22% and “It’s safe to say that the results (this summer) will outstrip those of 2019 and that 2023 will be the best year ever for tourism in Central Portugal”.
João Fernandes, the President of Turismo do Algarve, was equally optimistic. “I think this year we will equal the best year ever”, he said referring to 2019 when take-up rates were 83% in July and 92% in August that year.
According to AHRESP, of all the overseas issuer markets, the US has grown the most, registering a growth of 26.9% in overnight stays in 2022 on 2019, consolidating a positive trend that has been seen since 2014/2015. In the first four months of the year they represented one million overnight stays, +83.2% on 2022.
The Brazilian market, which like the US market had most grown to 2019, has not kept up with the trend since, being the market that has most shrank on 2019. Portugal’s main tourist markets are: the UK, Germany, Spain, and France, while the Portuguese continue to represent one-third of all tourists in the summer.