Tourism in Portugal explained

Tourism in Portugal serves millions of international and domestic tourists. Tourists visit to see cities, historic landmarks, enjoy beaches, or religious sites. As of 2023, Portugal had 26.5 million international visitors. In addition, there were also 11 million trips made by Portuguese residents including overnight stays at local hotels.The most popular destinations are Lisbon, Porto, the Algarve, the Portuguese Riviera, Madeira, Sintra, Óbidos, Nazaré, Fátima, Braga, Guimarães and Coimbra. The most popular with internationals were Lisbon region, the Algarve, the West and Tagus Valley region (Óbidos, Nazaré, Fátima), Northern Portugal (Porto, Braga and Guimarães) and Coimbra. National tourists prefer the Algarve and Northern Portugal, followed by Central region of Portugal.[1]

Statistics

In 2006, the country was visited by 7 million tourists, three million of which came from Spain.[2] By 2023, the country was visited by 26.5 million international tourists.[3]

In 2016, and compared to 2015, most tourists staying in hotels were attracted to Lisbon (6.3 million, up from 5.8), Porto and Northern Portugal (4.4 million, up from 3.9), the Algarve (4.2 million, up from 3.8), Central Portugal (3.2 million, up from 2.9 million), Madeira (1.5 million, up from 1.3), Alentejo (1.2 million, up from 1.1), and the Azores (0.5 million, up from 0.4). The Algarve and Lisbon lead in overnight stays.[4] In 2016, overnight stays grew significantly in other regions: the Azores (+21.1%), Northern Portugal (+14.4%), Alentejo (+12%), Central Portugal (+11.8%), and Madeira (+10.9%).[5] [6]

The following table presents the nationality of the largest demographic of tourists from 2017 to 2023:[7] [8] [9]

RankCountry2017201820192020202120222023
11,970,850 2,069,645 2,285,829795,2901,151,6292,174,4192,375,573
22,099,008 2,042,867 2,145,902456,639693,3072,114,4182,358,637
3790,141 981,822 1,202,247133,056345,5211,510,3512,049,880
41,600,199 1,641,912 1,623,207470,695773,2531,573,2631,689,787
51,565,904 1,602,066 1,541,398438,321569,5171,430,0771,623,132
6971,453 1,103,718 1,281,675272,884235,292925,7181,101,323
7650,325 665,930 722,115162,028257,072672,728823,971
8617,124 610,161 598,375179,947311,255642,057649,232
9- 346,428 380,89656,63450,585384,183595,305
10345,724 357,542 413,73351,904135,068457,453524,459
11- 303,013 304,86781,739162,852318,756370,745
12 312,029 327,264 325,79995,136187,716333,049344,196
13- 285,362 277,61662,124154,606275,624330,946
14-142,393151,97012,30211,31087,287196,112
15-119,799138,49312,44640,603162,456188,338
16- 324,258 385,30756,62317,24968,117187,484
17-141,439151,05520,94559,624143,485173,204
18-170,242205,55144,9317,00558,935166,783
19 - 142,573 144,49030,69171,943157,755163,006
20 - 190,183 183,71745,20163,203148,688158,543
21-68,38363,59118,65448,23197,040120,392
22-73,37773,74322,75443,12186,58899,400
23-101,215105,56021,54230,08695,86092,458
24-97,90094,40512,98419,50386,56891,441
25-44,18857,52614,79637,38275,73390,639
26-52,96272,47715,34115,54460,96486,899
27-41,71747,5487,10912,69655,12182,175
28-67,90572,67410,3757,85758,37176,803
29-52,44252,43812,37824,63554,19073,483
30-170,330186,98138,92628,59060,05372,684
Other foreign 3,666,674 969,121 1,118,929250,550351,618953,6031,281,345
Total international visitors 14,589,431 15,308,157 16,410,1143,904,9455,917,87315,322,91018,238,375

In 2016, accounting international tourists, the most popular regions were Lisbon (4.4 million), Algarve (3 million), Northern Portugal (2.1 million), Central Portugal (1.2), Madeira (1.2), Alentejo 370,000 and the Azores. For national tourists the most popular regions were Northern Portugal (2.3), Central Portugal (2.0), Lisbon (1.9), the Algarve (1.2), Alentejo (0.8), Madeira (0.29), and the Azores (0.27).[6]

The following table presents the nationality of the largest demographic of tourists by region in 2019:

Region International Tourist guests
TOP 5 nationalities National tourists
5,986,638 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th 2,230,043
3,592,441 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th 1,471,626
3,191,197 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th 2,771,829
1,636,776 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th 2,481,880
1,159,739 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th 322,501
550,5711st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th 1,065,487
382,752 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th 388,936
Lisbon is, with Barcelona, one of the European cities leading in overnight stays.[10] The urban areas of Porto and Northern Portugal, north of Douro River surpassed Madeira, in 2010, and the Algarve, in 2015, and became the second most visited destination in Portugal. In 2015, most tourists were Europeans, but also from the Americas and Asia. Sleeping in the country's hotels, the most numerous are the British, Spanish, French, Germans, Brazilians, the Dutch, Americans, Italians, and the Japanese, which not only want the sun and the beach, but mostly cultural ones, city breaks, gastronomy, nautical tourism, or business traveling.

Portugal won 14 "Oscars" of the tourism. The national tourism had 77 nominations and won a total of 14 awards in more than 10 European categories, surpassing Spain or Italy, at the gala of the World Travel Awards 2015, whose ceremony took place in Sardinia, Italy. CNN compared Lisbon and Porto head-to-head in order to find who has the best food, culture, old cafés and boutiques, nightlife, and the best beaches.[11]

Travel guide giants Lonely Planet have designated Portugal as one of the top 3 countries to visit in 2018.[12]

Tourism regions

Tourist hotspots in Portugal are Lisbon, Porto, the Algarve, Madeira, Sintra, Óbidos, Fátima, Coimbra and Azores, but the Portuguese government is currently developing new destinations: the Douro Valley, Porto Santo Island, and Alentejo.

Tourist regions

The main tourist regions can be broken-down into:

Other tourist regions include Douro Sul, Templários, Dão-Lafões, Costa do Sol, Costa Azul, Planície Dourada, that are unknown to many tourists or visitors.

Most of these regions are grouped in tourism reference areas, which continue to be in a state of reorganization and evolution, some based on the traditional regions of Portugal: the Costa Verde (Green Coast); Costa da Prata (Silver Coast); Costa de Lisboa (Lisbon Coast); Montanhas (Mountains); Planícies (Plains); Algarve; and the islands of the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores. All these regions are grouped in tourism reference areas, which are widely known because these are the traditional regions:

Protected areas

The following table presents the number of visitors who contacted each of the protected areas of Portugal, according to ICNF[13]

Protected Area 2018 2019 202020212022
25,36858,630 9,30317,74034,991
30,435 28,795 2,66810,27618,880
1,4982,267 6451,0692,516
40,505 44,078 540??
28,743 60,570 01,1702,018
6,348 5,400 3,2192,93511,184
85,543 82,242 54,64353,83862,576
1,713 1,853 31299263
12,857 8,942 2,2452,3488,039
4,582 6,723 5,7523,18217,018
6,180 5,894 5,4585,7316,724
2,319 1,956 1,30581112,275
112,227 103,593 39,48545,52766,198
1,236 860 8419921,363
46,662 60,061 17,20216,80525,997
3,079 18,429 4,2021,2711,552
7,642 7,999 1,3753,4297,367
4,097 3,951 6491,2741,259
4,556 9,934 2,6201,0322,316
6,124 5,284 3,4296,69124,724
43,435 44,326 15,69113,42240,313
58,127 52,774 12,91222,18428,467
15,950 18,027 3,5933,7599,096
38 130
332 1,306 321704,930
Total549,558633,923188,121215,755390,196

UNESCO World Heritage sites

Souvenirs

The Rooster of Barcelos is bought by many tourists as a souvenir. The legend of the Rooster of Barcelos tells the story of a dead rooster's miraculous intervention in proving the innocence of a man who had been falsely accused and sentenced to death. The story is associated with the 17th-century calvary that is part of the collection of the Archeological Museum located in Paço dos Condes, a gothic-style palace in Barcelos, a city in the Braga District of northwest Portugal.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Data and Resources . 30 January 2021 . travelbi.turismodeportugal.pt.
  2. http://jornal.publico.clix.pt/noticias.asp?a=2007&m=01&d=31&uid=&id=119136&sid=13209 Três milhões de espanhóis visitaram Portugal em 2006
  3. Web site: LCG . TravelBI by Turismo de Portugal - Portugal atinge 26,5 milhões de turistas não residentes 2023 . 2024-07-16 . travelbi.turismodeportugal.pt . pt.
  4. https://www.ine.pt/ngt_server/attachfileu.jsp?look_parentBoui=265860618&att_display=n&att_download=y Estatísticas do Turismo - 2015
  5. https://www.ine.pt/xurl/pub/277048338 Alojamento turístico acelera crescimento - 2016
  6. https://www.ine.pt/ngt_server/attachfileu.jsp?look_parentBoui=299820007&att_display=n&att_download=y Estatísticas do Turismo - 2016
  7. Web site: Guests (No.) in tourist accommodation establishments by Geographic localization (NUTS - 2013) and Place of residence (Country - short list); Annual (1) .
  8. Web site: ESTATÍSTICAS DO TURISMO - INE .
  9. Web site: ETurismo_2023 .
  10. https://dn.sapo.pt/2007/01/25/economia/cidades_atraem_mais_turistas_que_des.html DN Online: Cidades atraem mais turistas do que os destinos sol e mar
  11. Web site: Paul Ames, CNN. Porto vs. Lisbon: 8 reasons Porto is cooler. 27 July 2017 .
  12. Web site: Lonely Planet Best in Travel 2018: Top Countries.
  13. Web site: ICNF .