Data from the EU statistics office, Eurostat, show that the Portuguese are spending more now on holiday than in previous years, and a fat wedge of that will be ploughed into popular national destinations such as the Algarve, but that spending still has a way to go to match most of their European peers.
Latest Eurostat figures show that in 2015 Portuguese holidaymakers spent an average of €156.27 during minimum one night stays, a figure last recorded over a decade ago before the crisis took hold.
In 2012 those figures stood at just €111.78 a day, and a year later, in 2013, holiday spends dropped even further, to €106.
When stays increased to four or more nights, the average spent rose to €350, which is 40 percent up on the €250 that Portuguese would spend in 2012.
However, notwithstanding the improvements, these amounts are not that impressive when compared to the rest of the EU, which has an average spending of €320 on one-night stays and €556 on holidays of four or more nights.
The biggest spenders are Luxembourgers, who are happy to fork out around €740 on one-night breaks, followed by Austrians (€610) and the Maltese (€593).
Desidério Silva, head of the RTA Algarve Regional Tourism Board, said “the increased spending by Portuguese is obvious and has been noticeable mainly these past two years, in hotels and catering.”
Elidérico Viegas, head of AHETA, the Algarve’s largest hotel association, said “There are more Portuguese tourists in the Algarve, but, on the other hand, you can see they are opting for other types of accommodation other than hotels, as they are more accessible.”
Portugal has also registered a noticeable growth in German tourists in recent months, which could be an added bonus for the country as they are among the EU’s better spenders on holiday, parting with an average of €428 a day.