Portugal received 26.5 million non-resident tourists last year, up 19.2% compared to 2022 and 7.7% compared to the year before the pandemic, when record figures were reached, the National Statistics Institute (INE) reported this Monday.
“2023 has shown signs of recovery from the sector’s crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, surpassing the 2019 record levels in key indicators,” INE explains.
The same source reports that in 2023, most tourist accommodation facilities registered 32.5 million guests (foreign and Portuguese), who provided 85.1 million overnight stays, corresponding to an annual growth of 12.5% and 10.3%, respectively.
Overnight stays in hotels, local hotels, as well as rural tourism or residential accommodation, resulted in a 20 percent increase in total income, amounting to more than six billion euros.
It is important to note that all regions of the country recorded an increase in the number of overnight stays, with the West and the Tagus Valley (18.2%), the North (14%) and Greater Lisbon (11.8%) showing the greatest fluctuations, while being less pronounced in the Algarve (6.7%) and the Centre (6.9%).
Also according to INE, Spain remained the main source of tourists with a share of 25.2%, up 16.7% on the previous year. The UK (12.6% of the total) was again the second source market, up 14%, while the number of French tourists (12.4% of the total) grew by 11%. However, the greatest increase came from tourists from North America (up 34.2%).
Author: Joao Maltes
Source: CM Jornal
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