Easter calendar penalizes tourism in April Portugal with 6.5 million tourists staying overnight in April, down 4.3% from a year ago. The Easter holidays in 2023 were in April, but this year they stretched over two months, which justifies the reduction.

“These results will be influenced by the calendar effect of the Easter holiday period, which in the previous year was concentrated only in April, but this year it was spread” between that month and March, INE said.

During the period under review, overnight stays by residents totaled 1.8 million, down 12.5% ​​compared to the same period in 2023, contrary to the growth trajectory observed in February and March of this year. Tourists from foreign markets recorded the first decrease in the number of overnight stays – there were 4.8 million, or 0.8% fewer, since March 2021.

In foreign markets, the main issuing market in April was the UK (18.2% share), which recorded a slight decrease of 0.2%. The Spanish market (6.9% share) showed a significant decline – about 42.5%.

By region, the largest decrease in the total number of overnight stays in April occurred in the Alentejo (about 249 thousand, less than 11.3%), in the Algarve (1.657 million, less than 9.9%) and in the Center (about 387 thousand, less than 8.3%) . On the contrary, the Azores stood out in terms of growth rates (7.5% more per year, more than 236 thousand overnight stays in total).