Last year was a bumper year for tourism in Portugal, which is also being championed for its affordability. We look closer at recent findings and why this year is shaping up well too.
Discover how property owners can make the most of Portugal’s tourism boom.
Record figures for 2023 have confirmed Portugal’s popularity as a leading holiday destination. Until last year 2019 had been the country’s best year ever for tourism in terms of visitor numbers and revenue. Not so now, according to recently published stats by the Portuguese Government’s Tourism Board, which is reassuring news for property owners who are keen to maximise rental returns from holidaymakers.
“This was in fact a very positive year for the country’s tourism, as well as for Portugal as a whole,” announced Portugal’s Secretary of State for Tourism, Trade and Services, Nuno Fazenda, earlier this year. “It was a record year, the best ever in the history of tourism in Portugal.” Mr Fazenda anticipates further growth in 2024 and figures support this. In the first quarter of the year, overnight stays rose by 7.1% year-on-year.
Tourist accommodation across Portugal (including Madeira and the Azores) attracted 30 million guests in 2023, which is a rise of 13.3% year-on-year and 10.7% compared to 2019. This generated revenue of around € 25 billion, representing a staggering 37% growth on 2019 and 18.5% on 2022. Looking closer, no less than 77.2 million overnight stays were registered during 2023, 10.7 % more than the previous year and 10% more than 2019. These stats exclude campsites and youth camps/hostels.
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Brits top the foreign market
A total of 53.8 million overnight stays were attributable to around more than 18 million foreign tourists in Portugal in 2023, representing 69.7% of the overall market. Of these, Britons took the largest share (9.9million, 18.4%). The rest of the top five included Germans (6.1million, 11.3%), Spanish (5.5million, 10.1%), French (4.6million, 8.6%) and North Americans (4.6million, 8.6%). The highest increases were recorded by North Americans and Canadians, namely 32.9% and 56.9% respectively.
By region, it’s no surprise that the Algarve remains top of the pile. This famous stretch of coast, which covers only around 100 miles of the country’s entire 1,114-mile seaboard, accounted for 26.4 %(20.4million) of the country’s total overnight stays, 77% being the international market. The Greater Lisbon area was the second busiest tourist area with 24.3% (18.8million), then the Northern region with 17.2% (13.3million) and Madeira with 12 % (9.2million). All other regions were less than 5million.
Value for money
Lisbon is a highly rated tourist destination. Its also surprisingly affordable.
Portugal’s appeal to holidaymakers isn’t just its beaches, lifestyle, friendly people, sports and leisure attractions – even today it is a master at catering for all budgets. From high-end, pristinely purpose-built golf and leisure communities like Val do Lobo, Vilamoura and Quinta do Lago to laid-back local villages in the Eastern Algarve, whatever your spending power is an enjoyable lifestyle available to you.
Which is why the Algarve is the highest placed European destination on the most recent Post Office Worldwide Holiday Costs Barometer (2024), which ranks international destinations on affordability. Only four other places in the world rank above the Algarve, which has overtaken Turkey (Marmaris) and Bulgaria (Sunny Beach), ranked seventh and ninth respectively.
At the same time, the Post Office’s latest European city survey (2023) named Portugal’s capital Lisbon as the best value destination, with prices there only 2% up on the previous year. A further shot in the arm, Lisbon has been ranked 8th best European city for investment prospects in global accountancy PWC’s 2024 edition of its ‘Emerging Trends in Real Estate – Europe’ report. That puts it ahead of Barcelona, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Brussels, Rome and Dublin.
Driving investment
Riding the wave of tourism growth, a handful of new developments and resort upgrades are planned in the Algarve. Notable ones include the new Nova Marina development in Vilamoura, adding 68 large berths to the resort, which is already home to Portugal’s largest marina. Due for completion this year, this forms just one part of a €500 million investment in Vilamoura by its new owner Arrow Global (owner of Vilamoura World). The investment a raft of new luxury residential communities.
Next-door to Vilamoura, Val do Lobo recently announced a major re-brand with investment in everything from service and amenities to new real estate offerings, such as its new Vale Real mixed development. So plenty to look forward to then.
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