The demand for foreigners in Portugal is slowing down and the impact is already being felt in the country’s tourist accommodation. In September, overnight stays from non-residents fell 1.2% after already falling 0.4% in August, reveal the data released this Friday, 31, by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
Accounts made in the ninth month of the year added up 3.3 million guests (+1.1%) and 8.5 million overnight stays (+0,7%). O The increase in overnight stays was driven by the good performance of the domestic market which continues on an upward trajectory with a total of 2.5 million overnight stays, an increase of 5.6%.
Tourists from abroad were responsible for six million overnight stays, which translates into a decline compared to the same period of the previous year. “In September, among the 10 main issuing markets in terms of overnight stays, the German market was the only one to grow (+3.1%). The biggest decreases were observed in the Irish (-7.3%) and French (-7.2%) markets”, explains the statistics office.
The English continue to maintain leadership as the main issuing market, despite the 6.1% decrease compared to the same month last year. The interest of North Americans, who occupy third position, is also cooling down with a slight decrease of 0.4%. This is the second time since March 2021 that there has been a drop in these tourists coming from the other side of the Atlantic. The first, explains INE, took place in February this year, reflecting the effect of the mobile calendar structure associated with Carnival, which in 2024 took place in February and this year in March.
In an analysis of the national map, overnight stays by foreigners registered “mostly negative variations” in the various geographieswith the exception of Alentejo (+5.2%), North (+2.9%) and PenÃnsula de Setúbal (+1.9%). The most significant decreases occurred in the West and Tagus Valley regions (-3.5%) and in Madeira (-3.4%).
Although demand from foreign tourists is slowing down, The sector’s revenues continue to grow, driven by rising prices.
The average income per available room (RevPAR) stood at 99.2 euros (+2.8%) and the average income per occupied room (ADR) reached 143.1 euros (+3.9%).
According to calculations made in September, total income from tourist accommodation – which adds to accommodation other expenses inherent to tourists’ stays such as restaurants, laundry and other services – rose 5.6%, reaching 840.1 million euros. Accommodation income, which refers to revenue collected from overnight stays, totaled 659.1 million euros, an increase of 5.8%.
“Greater Lisbon was the region that contributed most to overall income (28.6% of total income and 29.8% of income from accommodation), followed by the Algarve (27.7% and 27.0%, respectively) and the North (16.0% and 16.4%, in the same order)”, says INE.
Madeira (+16.7% in total income and +19.0% in accommodation) and Alentejo (+13.2% and +16.7%, in the same order) were the regions that recorded the most significant increases in income.
Year-to-date, total income now totals 5.7 billion euros (+7.6%) and income from accommodation amounts to 4.4 billion euros (+7.4%).