“Up to 30 April 2025, the revenue paid from the municipal tourist tax (TMT) totalled 9.3 million euros, which represents an increase of almost 42% compared to the same period in 2024, when 6.6 million euros were recorded”, said Porto City Council, in a written response to Lusa.

According to the Porto City Council, these recent figures “reflect the adjustment of the rate” from two to three euros, but are also due to the “continued attractiveness of the city as a tourist destination”.

The Porto municipal tourist tax came into effect on March 1, 2018, at a value of two euros per overnight stay, with the aim of responding to the growth of activity in the city.

On December 1, 2024, the value of the Porto TMT was updated to three euros per overnight stay for people over 13 years old and up to a maximum of seven consecutive nights.

The TMT does not apply to pilgrims staying in hostels or displaced due to conflict in their countries of origin.

When asked by Lusa about the investments made in the municipality of Porto based on the collection of the TMT, the Porto City Hall responded that there are three fundamental pillars and that the “execution of each pillar is included in the municipality's budget and is not limited to just one year of implementation”.

The tourism policies of the municipality of Porto are based on the diversification of the tourist offer, with the creation of tourist blocks and new itineraries, on the regularization and qualification of the tourism sector with training actions for professionals and tourism agents, and on the regulation of the occupation of public spaces by street entertainers.

The revenue from TMT represents an important reinforcement of the municipal budget, allowing the city to continue “investing in areas essential for the quality of the destination, such as security, urban cleaning, maintenance of public spaces and signage”, concluded the city hall.

On January 17 of this year, the Porto City Council told the Lusa news agency that it had collected 20.9 million euros in net revenue in 2024, that is, 8.13% more than in 2023, when the recorded revenue was 19.2 million euros.