Portuguese tourism recovers in August

Tourism in Portugal rebounded in August, after a July pointing to a slowing trend. The number of overnight stays and guests grew compared to the same month last year, at the expense of residents in Portugal. Foreign tourists continue to come to Portugal for tourism, but there’s less interest.

“The tourist accommodation sector recorded 3.3 million guests and 9.5 million overnight stays in August 2019, corresponding to variations of 6.6% and 2.6% respectively (+5.6% and +2.6% in July, in the same order),” says this Monday the National Statistics Institute (INE).

However, this acceleration was sustained by residents in Portugal. “The number of nights spent by residents grew 3.2% (3.1% in July) and the number of non-residents increased 2.3% (+2.4% in the previous month). In the case of the number of guests, the trend was the same. The number of guests coming from abroad had grown by 6% in July compared to the same month last year, a variation that in August rose to 5.7%.

The improvement in indicators on the physical presence of tourists was accompanied by growth in the more financial indicators in tourism. Total income and retirement income grew more than in July. And the average income per available room stood at 84.4 euros, an increase of 1.5% compared to the same month of the previous year, which compares with a year-on-year rate of change of 0.2% observed in July.

Also according to INE, the North American, Brazilian and Irish markets stood out this month among foreign residents visiting Portugal, with overnight stays growing by 21.4%, 19.8% and 19.4%, respectively.