There were 4.5 million Portuguese who travelled in 2021, representing a total of 17.5 million tourist trips, according to the survey by the National Statistics Institute (INE).

Each trip lasted, on average, about five nights, and the average expense amounted to 196.6 euros, an increase of almost 12% compared to 2020.

According to the Residents' Travel Survey, in 2021, 44% of the population residing in Portugal made at least one tourist trip, which represented an increase compared to 2020 (514,900 more tourists). This reflects “a partial recovery from the decline recorded in 2020, compared to 2019, in which the number of tourists decreased by 1.4 million”, says the INE.

Last year there were 17.5 million tourist trips by the Portuguese, of which 16.5 million were within the country (+20.2%) and one million abroad (+48.8%). Compared to 2019, there were decreases of 22.7% and 67.4%, respectively.

“Leisure, recreation or vacations” continued to be the main motivation, justifying 9.2 million trips by the Portuguese, ahead of “visiting family or friends” with 6.4 million trips.

Each trip lasted, on average, 4.7 nights, slightly below the average of 4.8 nights in 2020. Travel abroad had an average duration of 9.4 nights (+2.2 nights compared to 2020 and 2019) and domestic trips 4.4 nights (4.7 nights in 2020; 3.6 nights in 2019).

Free accommodation

When choosing where to stay overnight, “accommodation provided free of charge by family and friends” was the most chosen option, concentrating 32.7 million overnight stays (39.6% of the total, 37.8% in 2020). This type of accommodation prevailed both in domestic travel (39.3% of overnight stays, 37.6% in 2020) and in trips abroad (41.4% of overnight stays, 40.2% in 2020).

The average expenditure per tourist, on each trip, stood at 196.6 euros, an increase of 11.6% compared to 2020 and approaching the value of 2019 (-0.3%). On domestic travel, residents spent, on average, 170.1 euros per tourist/trip, 11.8 euros more than in 2020 (35.2 euros more than in 2019), while on trips abroad the average expenditure per tourist /trip was 628.7 euros, reflecting an increase of 17.1% (two euros more compared to 2019).