According to preliminary data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), in 2024 tourist accommodation establishments registered 31.6 million guests and 80.3 million overnight stays, reflecting annual increases of 5.2% and 4.0%, respectively.

Overnight stays by non-residents predominated (70.3% of the total) and reached 56.4 million, while those by residents (29.7% of the total) totaled 23.9 million, which corresponds to increases of 4.8% and 2.4%, respectively.

“Compared to 2023, dependence on external markets increased slightly (69.8% in 2023), reaching the highest weight since 2018 (70.4%)”, notes the INE.

Of the 3.1 million increase in overnight stays recorded in 2024 compared to 2023, non-residents accounted for 82.1% (+2.6 million overnight stays), while residents contributed an additional 557.7 thousand overnight stays.

According to the statistical institute, last year, overnight stays by residents were dominant in only two regions: Centro and Alentejo, where they represented 67.1% and 66.5%, respectively.

The regions where dependence on external markets was most significant last year were Madeira and Greater Lisbon (85.3% and 82.0% of the total number of overnight stays in 2024, in the same order).

INE data also indicate that foreign markets “predominant in all months of 2024, with greater predominance in the months of October and May”, where they represented 75.5% and 75.3% of the total overnight stays recorded in each month, respectively.

On the contrary, the months of December and August recorded the lowest dependence on external markets, with overnight stays by residents representing 37.9% and 34.6% of the total for each month, respectively.

British market

In 2024, the British market remained the main one (18.1% of total non-resident overnight stays) and grew by 2.7%. This was followed by the German (11.3% of the total), Spanish (9.7% of the total), North American (9.2% of the total) and French (+8.0% of the total) markets.

The summer quarter (July to September) was the one in which overnight stays by residents had the highest share (31.1% in 2024, after 31.7% in 2023), while the second quarter was when there was the greatest dependence on external markets (73.2%, 72.2% in 2023).

In quarterly terms, the UK market has consistently been the leading market over the past two years, albeit with slight losses in market shares over the past three quarters (compared to the same quarters in 2023). In the fourth quarter of 2024, it represented 17.0% of overnight stays by non-residents (-0.5 percentage points compared to the fourth quarter of 2023).

The German market represented 12.3% of the total number of overnight stays by non-residents (+0.1 percentage points compared to 2023), followed by the North American market, with a share of 9.8% of the total (+0.4 percentage points).

The INE analysis also shows that, in 2024, Greater Lisbon was the NUTS II region with the lowest dependence, both on the main external market (16.1% of total overnight stays by non-residents) and on the three main external markets (32.8%).

The Azores (17.4%), Alentejo (17.7%) and the North (17.9%) were followed as regions with the least dependence on the main external market. In turn, the Setúbal Peninsula was the second region with the least dependence on the three main external markets (37.7%).

Algarve

Conversely, the Algarve was the region most dependent on the main external market, which represented 36.6% of overnight stays by non-residents registered in the region. This was followed by the Center (25.3%), Madeira (24.2%) and the West and Tagus Valley (24.1%).

The Algarve and Madeira were the regions most dependent on the three main external markets (58.8% of the total number of overnight stays by non-residents).

Spain was the main external market in five regions - Center (25.3% of overnight stays by non-residents), West and Tagus Valley (24.1%), Setúbal Peninsula (18.2%), North (17.9%) and Alentejo (17.7%) -, while the United States stood out in the Azores (17.4%) and Greater Lisbon (16.1%).

In turn, Germany was the largest external market in Madeira (24.2%) and the United Kingdom was the main one in the Algarve (36.6%).