Data provided by the National Institute of Statistics of Portugal (INE) has revealed that the country’s accommodation establishments recorded a total of 2.7 million visitors and 6.8 million overnight stays in April of this year, marking an increase of 16.5 per cent and 13.8 per cent, respectively.
Such data also show that in March 2023, the sector experienced significant growth, with a 30.7 per cent increase in guests and a 26.8 per cent increase in overnight stays compared to the previous month, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
In addition, during this April, the domestic market accounted for two million overnight stays, showing an increase of 7.3 per cent compared to April 2022. While foreign markets contributed to a total of 4.8 million overnight stays, showing an increase of 16.8 per cent compared to April 2022.
Based on these data, compared to April 2019, there was a 21.1 per cent increase in overnight stays by residents and 11.6 per cent by non-residents.
The market that had the most significant increase in overnight stays by residents during April 2023 was the United Kingdom, which accounted for 18.1 per cent of total overnight stays by non-residents.
At the same time, compared to April 2019, there was a 9.6 per cent increase in overnight stays from United Kingdom residents, indicating growth in tourism from this market.
According to INE data, Spain had an 11.9 per cent share of the total overnight stays from non-residents in April of this year. In comparison with 2019 figures, there was also a 2.3 per cent increase in overnight stays from the Spanish market, suggesting a slight growth in tourism in this country.
In all regions of Portugal, residents also saw an increase in overnight stays compared to April 2019. As a result, the region of RA Madeira stood out with a significant growth rate of 105.4 per cent in overnight stays by residents, indicating a substantial increase in domestic tourism.
On the other hand, the region of the Algarve had a relatively lower growth rate, with a 1.7 per cent increase in overnight stays by non-residents.
Further data from INE revealed that during April 2023, the net bed occupancy rate in tourist accommodation establishments was 50.8 per cent, which increased by 3.3 percentage points (p.p.) compared to the previous month (39.3 per cent in March). Thus, there was growth of 2.6 p.p. in terms of the net bed occupancy rate compared to April 2019.
In the first four months of this year, overall overnight stays increased by 30.0 per cent compared to the same period in the previous year. Among the overnight stays, there was a growth of 16.7 per cent in residents and 37.1 per cent in non-residents.
Moreover, compared to the same period in 2019, there was an overall increase of 14.2 per cent in overnight stays, with a growth of 19.9 per cent in residents and 11.8 per cent in non-residents. In April 2023, around 19.6 per cent of tourist accommodation establishments were closed or did not register guests, decreasing from 29.4 per cent in March.