Last year, tourist accommodation establishments registered 31.6 million guests and 80.3 million overnight stays, which represents a historic record. The annual increase was 5.2% in the number of tourists and 4% in accommodations.

In December 2024 alone, the tourist accommodation sector registered 1.9 million guests and 4.2 million overnight stays, which means 3.6% more people and 2.9% more nights in hotels in Portugal. Occupancy in national tourist accommodation reached 32.2% and 39.2% in net bed occupancy and room occupancy rates, respectively.

According to the INE's rapid estimate, overnight stays from external markets predominated, accounting for 70.3% of total overnight stays in 2024, totalling 56.4 million.

UK tourists

The UK remained the top source market in 2024, accounting for almost two in ten (18.1%) of non-resident overnight stays (+2.7%). This was followed by the German (11.3%), Spanish (9.7%), North American (9.2%) and French (8%) markets. Even so, the biggest increases were in tourists coming from Canada (+17.1%) and the USA (+12.1%).

By November, overnight stays had grown by 4.1% with residents registering the most significant increase (+22.2%) in the penultimate month of the year, corresponding to 1.7 million people. However, at the end of the year, the trend reversed and foreign visitors ended up dictating the evolution of the market.

“In foreign markets, the British remained the main issuing market (13.7% share), having registered a slight decrease (-0.2%), followed by Spain (weight of 13.2%), which decreased by 10%. Among the 10 main issuing markets in December, the Polish market once again stood out for the largest increase (+13.9%)”, reads the INE report for December.

The month of Christmas and New Year's Eve festivities was also crucial for the Autonomous Region of Madeira, which had the largest increase in overnight stays in the country (+8.8%), just ahead of the Azores, which grew by 4.4%. Worse news for the West and Tagus Valley and the Center, which were the only Portuguese regions with falls (-3.0% and -0.3%, in the same order).