Domestic tourists drive growth in overnight stays
While overnight stays by non-resident guests fell 0.2% year-on-year to 5.8 million, stays by domestic tourists supported an overall growth of 1.3%.
Tourist overnight stays in Portugal reached 7.8 million in May, up 1.3% year-on-year, driven by strong domestic tourism.
Overnight stays by Portuguese residents rose 5.9% to 2 million, while those by foreign visitors dipped slightly by 0.2% to 5.8 million, according to data released Monday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
Among the top 10 source markets, the U.S. stood out with a 6% increase in overnight stays, while Brazil registered the sharpest drop, down 11.6%.
The UK remained the leading source of foreign guests, accounting for 19.4% of all non-resident overnight stays and growing 1.2% from May 2024.
Regionally, the North (+6.6%) and Centre (+5.6%) saw the largest gains in overnight stays.
Meanwhile, the Algarve and Greater Lisbon recorded declines of 3.1% and 0.7%, respectively.
Lisbon alone accounted for 1.5 million stays, 19.5% of the national total.
Despite a 1.3% drop in the average length of stay (2.44 nights), tourist arrivals rose to 3.19 million, with a 2.6% year-on-year increase.
Foreign tourists made up 2.09 million (+1.6%), and domestic tourists totaled 1.09 million (+4.6%).
Revenues’ growth
Revenue from tourism continued to grow.
Total receipts rose 8.7% to €717 million, while accommodation income rose 8.9% to €550.6 million.
Greater Lisbon led in revenue generation, contributing 31.9% of total tourism income and 34% of accommodation revenue.
The Algarve followed with 22.5% and 20.7%, respectively.
The highest average revenue per available room was also recorded in Greater Lisbon (€142.7), and per occupied room (€174.8).
Looking at the first five months of 2025, Portugal welcomed 11.7 million tourists (+3.9%) and recorded 28.3 million overnight stays (+2.3%).
Tourism revenue rose 7.9% to €2.24 billion, outpacing growth in guest numbers.