According to rapid statistics on tourist activity, published by the National Statistics Institute (INE), the growth observed in January was higher than that recorded in December, the month in which the number of guests in Portugal rose by 148.9% and that of overnight stays increased by 169.7%.

However, the levels reached in the first month of this year were lower than those observed in January 2020, when there were still no effects of the pandemic, with reductions of 39.9% in guests and 38.8% in overnight stays.

In the month under analysis, the domestic market contributed with 857,700 overnight stays (+104.5%) and the external markets totalled 1.1 million (+308.7%).

Compared to January 2020, there were decreases both in overnight stays from residents (-20.1%), and in non-residents (-47.9%).

All the main outbound markets recorded increases in January, accounting for 84.7% of overnight stays from non-residents in tourist accommodation establishments this month.

British tourists

In January, the British market accounted for 14.6% of total overnight stays from non-residents, followed by the German (13.4%) and Brazilian (9.4%) markets.

In January, 41% of tourist accommodation establishments were closed or had no movement of guests, compared to 37% in December.