In 2017, Portugal broke records in terms of tourist numbers and revenue. It welcomed over 23M tourists and 50M passengers at its airports. While the share of revenue directly linked to tourism in GDP reached 7.1 %.

Growth on the rise in 2018

Portugal's National Statistics Institute (INE) has just announced. That Portugal's northern region would have seen growth in tourism terms in 2018 that is double the national average.

The benefits would have ranged from 12 to 12.5% if we take into account overnight stays in particular, whereas at national level the same figures were 6% to 6.5%. This can be explained, in particular, by the fact that, until now, the region has been less well known. External markets accounted for 71% in 2018, compared with 56.1% for non-residents over the same period.