Porto recorded 5.9 million overnight stays in 2023

Porto recorded 5.9 million overnight stays in 2023, according to the data released by Statistics Portugal (INE - Instituto Nacional de Estatística). All in all, overnight stays in the city accounted for 7.6% of the national total. Portugal exceeded 30 million guests and 77 million overnight stays last year, with record revenues of around six billion euros.

The 5.9 million overnight stays in the city represent a 21.9% increase compared to 2022 (+8.8% for residents and +24.7% for non-residents). That year registered more than 4.8 million overnight stays.

In 2023, and compared to 2019, the pre-pandemic period, 'the municipalities of Porto (+28%), Funchal (+24.2%) and Lisbon (+8.3%) stood out' as the most representative of the total.

Catarina Santos Cunha: 'These data demonstrate the vitality of the sector'

According to the data provided by INE, August was the month with the highest number of overnight stays in the city (over 656 thousand), followed by September (626 thousand) and October (595 thousand). No other month recorded less than the 284 thousand overnight stays reached during the first month of 2023.

'This increase in income from tourism demonstrates the vitality of the sector and tourism's ability to generate value and boost the economic and social momentum of the city, but also of the entire region and country', says the Councillor for Tourism and Internationalisation.

For Catarina Santos Cunha, there is still 'substantial room for growth, which must be anchored in a smart, sustainable and balanced strategy. We are working together with the ecosystem of operators, stakeholders and the local community to fulfil our objective of attracting tourism that adds value and contributes to the residents' quality of life'.

North region with strong tourism growth

In national terms, in December the tourist accommodation sector registered 1.8 million guests (+10.9%) and four million overnight stays (+8.2%). For the year as a whole, overnight stays grew by 10.7% (+2.1% for residents and +14.9% for non-residents).

Considering all means of accommodation (tourist accommodation establishments, camping sites, holiday camps and youth hostels), there were 32.5 million guests and 85.2 million overnight stays in 2023, corresponding to 12.7% and 10.4% growths respectively. Overnight stays by residents increased by 2.5% and those by non-residents by 14.8%.

By region, the biggest increases in accommodation revenue occurred in the Azores (+27.7%), with the North reaching +25.5%. Compared to 2019, the biggest increases took place in Madeira (23.4%), with the North following closely, with a 22.8% growth.