Tourism in Portugal Marks Notable Increase, but Figures Remain Far Below Pre-Pandemic Levels

Such conclusions have been reached by Portugal’s hotel association AHP, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.

The same source revealed that the number of tourists visiting Portugal recovered to a total of 5.9 million in 2021, while in 2020, it had 3.9 million, which were the worst results since the mid-1980s, and far below the record of 2019, in which year the country received a total of 16.4 million passengers, according to local media reports.

In this regard, the chief executive of Portugal’s hotel association AHP, Cristina Siza Vieira, stressed that demand was to increase immensely during this summer, with hotels expecting to reach pre-pandemic levels during the summer season.

According to AHP’s president, Bernardo Trindade, the recovery of the tourism sector in Portugal was happening faster compared to other European countries, mainly due to its location, far from the war ravaging Ukraine, as well as people’s perceptions of the country as a safe place to visit.

However, when looking at 2022 as a whole, hoteliers are not optimistic, according to Siza Vieira, as reported by Reuters.

“Possibly, when we close the year in December, we could get close to 2019 levels but not at the same level yet,” she pointed out.

According to her, there are two main challenges that the sector is facing: staffing shortages as well as rampant inflation.

Previously, atozserwisplus.com reported that, according to authorities in Portugal, tourism in Portugal is expected to reach 85 per cent of its pre-pandemic levels this year, with the possibility for tourism in its capital to reach pre-pandemic levels by 2023.

“Perhaps we can reach the end of this year, if everything goes as it has so far, at about 85 per cent of 2019. We hope in 2023 to reach the previous values,” the Director-General of the Lisbon Tourism Association, Vítor Cost, said.

According to the statistics office INE of Portugal, hotels as well as restaurants employed a total of 266,600 people in the first quarter of this year, or 45,200 more compared to the figures of the same period last year, but 33,200 less than in the first three months of 2019.

Portugal accounted sot about 15 per cent of gross domestic product before the pandemic and was one of the main drivers of its recovery from the 2010-14 economic and debt crisis.