Tourist activity in Porto generates economic and historic impact in the city

Between January and July of 2023, Porto’s tourist sector registered various records which had a direct impact on the city’s economy, as is demonstrated by the historic new peak in consumption generated by foreign cards and by the total profit in tourist accommodation.

Up to July, 344 million Euros were accumulated in the city through transactions with foreign cards, an historic peak with a surge of 36% compared to the homologous time period in 2022, which expresses the contribution of non-residents for the development of local economy. Only in July, the consumption generated by foreign cards amounted to 73 million Euros.

Regarding the total profits of Porto’s tourist accommodations, in the first semester the record number of 193.6 millions of Euros was reached, representing around 48% of the total profits in the tourist accommodations of the North region.

It has also increased the average revenue per available room (RevPar) between January and May, to an average of 62.6 euros.

According to the councillor for Tourism and Internationalisation of Porto City Hall analysis, these data from INE shows “an increased economic dynamism of the tourist sector and a higher attractiveness of the destination, in accord with the Municipality’s vision for sustainability, that is strategically positioned to attract visitors with longer accommodation periods and purchase power that generate a positive impact in developing the local economy”.

“We are working so that this growth is qualitative, as away for the profit to be felt in the increase of the quality of life of our residents and the sustainability of the destination”, Catarina Santos Cunha.

The main source industries for visitors in Porto were, in the first five months of the year, Spain, United States of America, France, Brazil, United Kingdom, and Germany. Special emphasis on the progressive growth of the American market, which is already one of the biggest, be it in the number of guests, in accommodation, or in the generated consumption.

“The goal is to increase the average stay of visitors in our city, which justifies the attractiveness from faraway markets, since they stay for a longer period of time and look for experiences that value the authenticity and territorial diversity”, the councillor adds.

Sá Carneiro Airport registers an historic total of passengers

Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport, main access door for the region, has also registered an historic total of embarked and disembarked passengers in the first semester of the year, with a total of 7.056.007 passengers, reaching a growth of 28.6% when compared to the homologous time period of 2022 (+15.7& compared to the same period in 2019). Only in June a daily average of around 23.7 thousand passengers’ disembarkation.

In the numbers accumulated from January to June, Porto’s airport concentrated 22.6% of the total passengers in the country.