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Tourism in Portugal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lisbon, Portugal's capital.
Porto, Portugal's fourth largest municipality
The Marinha Beach in Lagoa is considered by the Michelin Guide as one of the 10 most beautiful beaches in Europe and as one of the 100 most beautiful beaches in the world. The Algarve region leads in overnight stays.
A view of Óbidos.
Panoramic view of Nazaré and its beach.
Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima.
University of Coimbra, one of the oldest universities in the world.
Mondego River in Coimbra.
Pena National Palace in Sintra, an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Monserrate Palace in Sintra
Pico, Azores, besides being the highest mountain in Portugal, it is a wine region whose landscape is protected as world heritage.
Aveiro is known as the "Portuguese Venice".
The Douro river in Northern Portugal.

Tourism in Portugal serves millions of international and domestic tourists. Tourists visit to see cities, historic landmarks, enjoy beaches, or religious sites. As of 2023, Portugal had 26.5 million international visitors. In addition, there were also 11 million trips made by Portuguese residents including overnight stays at local hotels.[1][2]

Dolphins in Arrábida natural reserve

The most popular destinations are Lisbon, Porto, the Algarve, the Portuguese Riviera, Madeira, Sintra, Óbidos, Nazaré, Fátima, Braga, Guimarães and Coimbra. The most popular with internationals were Lisbon region, the Algarve, the West and Tagus Valley region (Óbidos, Nazaré, Fátima), Northern Portugal (Porto, Braga and Guimarães) and Coimbra. National tourists prefer the Algarve and Northern Portugal, followed by Central region of Portugal.[3]

Statistics

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In 2006, the country was visited by 7 million tourists, three million of which came from Spain.[4] By 2023, the country was visited by 26.5 million international tourists.[5]

In 2016, and compared to 2015, most tourists staying in hotels were attracted to Lisbon (6.3 million, up from 5.8), Porto and Northern Portugal (4.4 million, up from 3.9), the Algarve (4.2 million, up from 3.8), Central Portugal (3.2 million, up from 2.9 million), Madeira (1.5 million, up from 1.3), Alentejo (1.2 million, up from 1.1), and the Azores (0.5 million, up from 0.4). The Algarve and Lisbon lead in overnight stays.[6] In 2016, overnight stays grew significantly in other regions: the Azores (+21.1%), Northern Portugal (+14.4%), Alentejo (+12%), Central Portugal (+11.8%), and Madeira (+10.9%).[7][8]

The following table presents the nationality of the largest demographic of tourists from 2017 to 2023:[2][1][9]

Rank Country 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
1  Spain 1,970,850 2,069,645 2,285,829 795,290 1,151,629 2,174,419 2,375,573
2  United Kingdom 2,099,008 2,042,867 2,145,902 456,639 693,307 2,114,418 2,358,637
3  United States 790,141 981,822 1,202,247 133,056 345,521 1,510,351 2,049,880
4  France 1,600,199 1,641,912 1,623,207 470,695 773,253 1,573,263 1,689,787
5  Germany 1,565,904 1,602,066 1,541,398 438,321 569,517 1,430,077 1,623,132
6  Brazil 971,453 1,103,718 1,281,675 272,884 235,292 925,718 1,101,323
7  Italy 650,325 665,930 722,115 162,028 257,072 672,728 823,971
8  Netherlands 617,124 610,161 598,375 179,947 311,255 642,057 649,232
9  Canada - 346,428 380,896 56,634 50,585 384,183 595,305
10  Ireland 345,724 357,542 413,733 51,904 135,068 457,453 524,459
11   Switzerland - 303,013 304,867 81,739 162,852 318,756 370,745
12  Belgium 312,029 327,264 325,799 95,136 187,716 333,049 344,196
13  Poland - 285,362 277,616 62,124 154,606 275,624 330,946
14  Australia - 142,393 151,970 12,302 11,310 87,287 196,112
15  Israel - 119,799 138,493 12,446 40,603 162,456 188,338
16  China - 324,258 385,307 56,623 17,249 68,117 187,484
17  Austria - 141,439 151,055 20,945 59,624 143,485 173,204
18  South Korea - 170,242 205,551 44,931 7,005 58,935 166,783
19  Denmark - 142,573 144,490 30,691 71,943 157,755 163,006
20  Sweden - 190,183 183,717 45,201 63,203 148,688 158,543
21  Czech Republic - 68,383 63,591 18,654 48,231 97,040 120,392
22  Romania - 73,377 73,743 22,754 43,121 86,588 99,400
23  Finland - 101,215 105,560 21,542 30,086 95,860 92,458
24  Norway - 97,900 94,405 12,984 19,503 86,568 91,441
25  Ukraine - 44,188 57,526 14,796 37,382 75,733 90,639
26  India - 52,962 72,477 15,341 15,544 60,964 86,899
27  Mexico - 41,717 47,548 7,109 12,696 55,121 82,175
28  Argentina - 67,905 72,674 10,375 7,857 58,371 76,803
29  Hungary - 52,442 52,438 12,378 24,635 54,190 73,483
30  Russia - 170,330 186,981 38,926 28,590 60,053 72,684
Other foreign 3,666,674 969,121 1,118,929 250,550 351,618 953,603 1,281,345
Total international visitors 14,589,431 15,308,157 16,410,114 3,904,945 5,917,873 15,322,910 18,238,375

In 2016, accounting international tourists, the most popular regions were Lisbon (4.4 million), Algarve (3 million), Northern Portugal (2.1 million), Central Portugal (1.2), Madeira (1.2), Alentejo 370,000 and the Azores. For national tourists the most popular regions were Northern Portugal (2.3), Central Portugal (2.0), Lisbon (1.9), the Algarve (1.2), Alentejo (0.8), Madeira (0.29), and the Azores (0.27).[8]

The following table presents the nationality of the largest demographic of tourists by region in 2019:[3]

Region International Tourist guests
 TOP 5 nationalities National tourists
Lisbon 5,986,638 1st Spain, 2nd United States, 3rd Brazil, 4th France, 5th Germany 2,230,043
Algarve 3,592,441 1st United Kingdom, 2nd Spain, 3rd Germany, 4th France, 5th Republic of Ireland 1,471,626
Northern Portugal 3,191,197 1st Spain, 2nd France, 3rd Brazil, 4th United States, 5th Germany 2,771,829
Central Portugal 1,636,776 1st Spain, 2nd Brazil, 3rd France, 4th Italy, 5th United States 2,481,880
Madeira 1,159,739 1st Germany, 2nd United Kingdom, 3rd France, 4th Netherlands, 5th Poland 322,501
Alentejo 550,571 1st Spain, 2nd Brazil, 3rd United States, 4th Germany, 5th France 1,065,487
The Azores 382,752 1st Germany, 2nd United States, 3rd Spain, 4th France, 5th United Kingdom 388,936

Lisbon is, with Barcelona, one of the European cities leading in overnight stays.[10] The urban areas of Porto and Northern Portugal, north of Douro River surpassed Madeira, in 2010, and the Algarve, in 2015, and became the second most visited destination in Portugal. In 2015, most tourists were Europeans, but also from the Americas and Asia. Sleeping in the country's hotels, the most numerous are the British, Spanish, French, Germans, Brazilians, the Dutch, Americans, Italians, and the Japanese, which not only want the sun and the beach, but mostly cultural ones, city breaks, gastronomy, nautical tourism, or business traveling.

Portugal won 14 "Oscars" of the tourism. The national tourism had 77 nominations and won a total of 14 awards in more than 10 European categories, surpassing Spain or Italy, at the gala of the World Travel Awards 2015, whose ceremony took place in Sardinia, Italy. CNN compared Lisbon and Porto head-to-head in order to find who has the best food, culture, old cafés and boutiques, nightlife, and the best beaches.[11]

Travel guide giants Lonely Planet have designated Portugal as one of the top 3 countries to visit in 2018.[12]

Tourism regions

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Tourist hotspots in Portugal are Lisbon, Porto, the Algarve, Madeira, Sintra, Óbidos, Fátima, Coimbra and Azores, but the Portuguese government is currently developing new destinations: the Douro Valley, Porto Santo Island, and Alentejo.

Tourist regions

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The main tourist regions can be broken-down into:[citation needed]

Other tourist regions include Douro Sul, Templários, Dão-Lafões, Costa do Sol, Costa Azul, Planície Dourada, that are unknown to many tourists or visitors.

Most of these regions are grouped in tourism reference areas, which continue to be in a state of reorganization and evolution, some based on the traditional regions of Portugal: the Costa Verde (Green Coast); Costa da Prata (Silver Coast); Costa de Lisboa (Lisbon Coast); Montanhas (Mountains); Planícies (Plains); Algarve; and the islands of the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores. All these regions are grouped in tourism reference areas, which are widely known because these are the traditional regions:[citation needed]

Protected areas

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Maronesa in Alvão Natural Park
Berlengas fort in Berlengas Islands
Ribeiro do Cavalo beach in Arrábida Natural Park
Cliff in Berlengas Islands

The following table presents the number of visitors who contacted each of the protected areas of Portugal, according to ICNF[13]

Protected Area 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Alvão 25,368 58,630 9,303 17,740 34,991
Arrábida 30,435 28,795 2,668 10,276 18,880
Arriba Fóssil da Costa da Caparica 1,498 2,267 645 1,069 2,516
Berlengas 40,505 44,078 540 ? ?
Douro International 28,743 60,570 0 1,170 2,018
Dunas de São Jacinto 6,348 5,400 3,219 2,935 11,184
Estuário do Sado 85,543 82,242 54,643 53,838 62,576
Estuário do Tejo 1,713 1,853 312 99 263
Lagoas de Santo André e de Sancha 12,857 8,942 2,245 2,348 8,039
Litoral Norte 4,582 6,723 5,752 3,182 17,018
Madeira 6,180 5,894 5,458 5,731 6,724
Paul do Boquilobo 2,319 1,956 1,305 811 12,275
Peneda-Gerês 112,227 103,593 39,485 45,527 66,198
Paul de Arzila 1,236 860 841 992 1,363
Ria Formosa 46,662 60,061 17,202 16,805 25,997
Serra da Estrela 3,079 18,429 4,202 1,271 1,552
Sapal de Castro Marim e Vila Real de Santo António 7,642 7,999 1,375 3,429 7,367
Serra da Malcata 4,097 3,951 649 1,274 1,259
Serra de São Mamede 4,556 9,934 2,620 1,032 2,316
Serra do Açor 6,124 5,284 3,429 6,691 24,724
Serras de Aire e Candeeiros 43,435 44,326 15,691 13,422 40,313
Sintra-Cascais 58,127 52,774 12,912 22,184 28,467
Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina 15,950 18,027 3,593 3,759 9,096
Tejo Internacional * 38 * * 130
Vale do Guadiana 332 1,306 32 170 4,930
Total 549,558 633,923 188,121 215,755 390,196

UNESCO World Heritage sites

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Souvenirs

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The Rooster of Barcelos is bought by many tourists as a souvenir. The legend of the Rooster of Barcelos tells the story of a dead rooster's miraculous intervention in proving the innocence of a man who had been falsely accused and sentenced to death. The story is associated with the 17th-century calvary that is part of the collection of the Archeological Museum located in Paço dos Condes, a gothic-style palace in Barcelos, a city in the Braga District of northwest Portugal.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "ESTATÍSTICAS DO TURISMO - INE".
  2. ^ a b "Guests (No.) in tourist accommodation establishments by Geographic localization (NUTS - 2013) and Place of residence (Country - short list); Annual (1)".
  3. ^ a b "Data and Resources". travelbi.turismodeportugal.pt. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  4. ^ Três milhões de espanhóis visitaram Portugal em 2006[permanent dead link‍]. January 31, 2007. Público.
  5. ^ LCG. "TravelBI by Turismo de Portugal - Portugal atinge 26,5 milhões de turistas não residentes | 2023". travelbi.turismodeportugal.pt (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  6. ^ Estatísticas do Turismo - 2015 - INE
  7. ^ Alojamento turístico acelera crescimento - 2016 - INE
  8. ^ a b Estatísticas do Turismo - 2016 - INE
  9. ^ "ETurismo_2023".
  10. ^ DN Online: Cidades atraem mais turistas do que os destinos sol e mar Archived 2007-02-18 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Paul Ames, CNN (27 July 2017). "Porto vs. Lisbon: 8 reasons Porto is cooler". {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  12. ^ "Lonely Planet Best in Travel 2018: Top Countries".
  13. ^ "ICNF".
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Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Portugal.
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