The head of Portugal’s tourist board, Luís Araújo, launched a plan in March 2017 to double the country's tourist revenue over the next ten years and said he expected an overall €26 billion economic impact by 2027.
The confirmed figures for 2016 are just in for Portugal’s tourism sector, showing the industry welcomed 21.3 million guests, a record and an increase of 11.1% over 2015.
The National Institute of Statistics confirms that in addition to the increase in the number of guests, on average each stayed longer with overnight stays at 59.4 million, 11.6% up on 2015. This was a welcome increase of 18.1%.
The figures published by the National Institute of Statistics include hotels, rural tourism and local accommodation with more than 10 beds but do not include the 80% of the lettings market carried out illegally but with the government's unspoken blessing.
Locals in Portugal accounted for 17.5 million overnight stays in their own country, up 7.8%, and inbound foreigners accounted for 41.9 million stays, 70.6% of total.
This growth in tourism has been felt in all regions, “reinforcing the results of the policies developed to extend the tourist activity to the whole territory,” according to the government.
The main source market in 2016 remained the United Kingdom (9.5 million overnight stays), followed by Germany (5.8 million), France (4.4 million) and Spain (4.3 million).
When on holiday, the French spent the most (€2.27 billion), followed by the British (€2.26 billion) and the Spanish (€1.6 billion).
In March 2017, Economy Minister Manuel Caldeira Cabral said that "growth is not turning out to be a transitory phenomenon, as some predicted, but a sustainable phenomenon."
Many now believe him, with 2017 figures already well ahead of last year’s and hotels, beaches and restaurants, full to bursting as the industry copes with the August influx.
