Fewer tourists, higher prices and more turnover. In short, this is the triad that portrays the year 2022 in national tourism, the best ever for the sector’s treasury. Portugal is ridding itself of its reputation as a cheap destination and preliminary data released yesterday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) prove it.
Last year, the national tourist accommodation added a record five billion euros in total revenues, which, in addition to accommodation, also represent other expenses inherent in the stay of tourists, such as restaurants, laundry, tobacconist or communications.
This amount surpassed the final accounts of 2019 by 16.5% (4.3 billion euros), which was considered the best year ever for tourism in the country so far. Analyzing only the income from overnight stays in Portugal, it is also concluded that there was a 17.7% increase in accommodation income, which totaled €3.8 billion.
And this sum of records was made with fewer tourists, meaning each guest paid more to stay overnight in the country. Between January and December 2022, the number of guests in Portugal, 26.5 million, was still 2.3% below pre-pandemic levels and the same happened with the number of overnight stays, 69.5 million (-0.9%). But even though fewer tourists entered the country, everyone spent more money. Proof of this was the fact that tourist accommodation revenues for 2019 were already exceeded in October and reached 4.5 billion euros.
Prices are rising in the Alentejo and on the islands
After the two-year interregnum that curbed tourism activity due to the brakes put on the sector by the pandemic, demand was strong at the end of the first quarter of 2022 and prices rose nationwide, rising by an average of 14%. But it was the autonomous regions that stood out the most in the rise in rates for the different types of accommodation.
Madeira led the way with a 35% increase in average revenue per available room (RevPAR), more than double the national average, to €59.7. The Azores recorded an increase of 22.3% to 46.6 euros in this indicator.
On the mainland, Alentejo stood out with a RevPar increase of 22.7% to 40.6 euros, proving that the region’s growth trend has an enduring character during the covid years. The lowest price increases, on the other hand, were seen in the North (+8%), Lisbon (+9%) and the Center (+11%).
The capital had the most expensive rate in the country, 80.3 euros and the Center the cheapest, 27.5 euros. For example, with 1.5 billion euros, Lisbon was the region that earned the most from tourist accommodation, while the Center occupies the last place in the national top with 388 million euros. The Algarve was the second destination with the highest total income from accommodation, €1.4 billion. With larger rate increases, Madeira, the Azores and the Algarve also posted the highest revenue growth compared to 2019, with increases of 30%, 24% and 27% respectively.
The North American market continues to grow
Foreign tourists were mainly responsible for the largest share of overnight stays in Portugal last year, some 47 million, despite the country still receiving 5% less from non-residents compared to pre-pandemic. Gaining weight was the North American market, with a total of 1.5 million guests (+25% compared to 2019) and 3.4 million overnight stays (+27%). Tourists arriving from the United States already accounted for 7.5% of national tourism, making it the country’s fifth outbound market.
The first place was taken by the United Kingdom, which last year accounted for 19.3% of overnight stays by foreigners, a total of nine million, still 4% less than in 2019. The Germans occupy second place, with 5, 3 million overnight stays and an 11.5% share of the country’s tourism, followed by the Spaniards with five million overnight stays and a weight of 10.8% and the French, responsible for four million overnight stays and an expression of 7.5 % in total tourism activity.
Yet another highlight for the expressive growth of the East’s source markets. Overnight stays in the Czech Republic increased by 54% compared to 2019 (319 thousand) and Romania, with 269 thousand overnight stays, grew by 22%
The domestic market, on the other hand, continued to grow and explored the corners of the country, translating into an 8.6% increase in residents’ overnight stays. “In terms of non-resident overnight stays, the main increases were seen in the Azores (+5.1%), Madeira (+4.5%) and the North (+4.3%) and, in the opposite direction, the largest decreases were observed in the center (-13.1%) and the Algarve (-11.3%),” explains INE.
Number of passengers still below pre-pandemic levels
In a broader analysis of last year’s tourism activity, air transport data confirm trends in tourist accommodation. It was mainly through national airports that foreign tourists entered the country, but still in smaller numbers than in 2019. Between January and December 2022, 217,600 aircraft on commercial flights landed at airports in Portugal (-4.5% compared to 2019) and 56.8 million passengers were transported (-5.6% compared to pre-covid), the data of the statistics office details.
The British also took the lead in terms of airport infrastructure and took the lead again on the podium. The United Kingdom was the leading country of origin and destination of flights in Portugal in 2022, after occupying second place in 2020 and 2021. Overall, there was a 213.5% growth in the number of passengers disembarking and 218.7% in the number of passengers boarding, compared to 2021, values that have dethroned France and pushed it to second place in the table of the main countries of origin and destination of flights at national airports.
Source: DN
