Tourist accommodation recovered in 2021, still well below pre-pandemic

The tourist accommodation sector recorded 37.5 million overnight stays in 2021, more than in 2020, but the lowest number since 2010 if 2020 is excluded, according to Statistics Portugal (INE).

Also in 2021 as a whole, 14.5 million guests were recorded, up 39.4% compared to 2020, but down 46.4% compared to 2019, according to data released on Monday by INE.

The 37.5 million overnight stays mean 45.2% more compared to 2020 and 46.6% less compared to 2019. INE said, “excluding 2020, you have to go back to 2010, when 37.4 million overnight stays were recorded, to find a lower number of overnight stays.”

This preliminary data for 2021 was released today by INE, according to which “the pandemic context did not only affect the level of tourism activity,” and there was a “monthly distribution of results different from the characteristic seasonal pattern.”

In 2021, INE said that “contrary to usual, it was not the summer months (July to September), but rather the months of August to October that recorded the highest number of overnight stays (49.6% of total overnight stays)”.

In December alone, 1.1 million guests and 2.6 million overnight stays were recorded, up 150.0% and 170.4% compared to the same month of 2020, but less than in December 2019.