Revenues from tourism in Portugal reached €7 billion in the first semester of 2018, an increase of 14% over the same period in 2017.

Comparing to 2017, tourism in Portugal has grown in revenues if not in the number of visitors and hotel bookings.

This is due to the higher prices charged by hotels and other tourism organisations. In fact, during the first half of 2018 tourists spent an average of slightly more than €38 million per day.

From January to June, Portuguese hotels welcomed 9.6 million guests. This translated into 25.3 million bookings (also an increase compared to the same period of last year).

According to the Bank of Portugal, tourists spent €6.9Bn between January and June, +13.88% than the first half of 2017.

The best months for tourism in Portugal were March and May with a turnover in revenues close to 20%.

Ana Mendes Godinho, Portuguese Secretary of State for Tourism, states that “these numbers show that tourism has continued to grow throughout the year, and particularly that we are succeeding in growing at a far superior rate in terms of revenues, which means we are growing in value and succeeding in attracting tourists that are spending more.”

The Portuguese tourist also increased spending in the first half of the year. With an increase of 7.44%, the Portuguese tourist spent a total of €2.26Bn overseas.

Source: Essential Business