In March 2024, the tourist accommodation sector registered 2.3 million guests and 5.7 million overnight stays, corresponding to growth of 12.2% in guests (+7.1% in February) and 12.8% in overnight stays (+6.4% in February), reveals INE today.
It should be noted that the results were influenced by the calendar effect of the holiday period associated with Easter, which this year was spread between March and April, while in the previous year it was concentrated only in April.
Resident overnight stays totaled 1.6 million (+10.3%, after +2.9% in February). External markets recorded growth of 13.8% (after +8.2% in February), reaching 4.1 million overnight stays.
In the 1st quarter of 2024, guests increased by 7.7% and overnight stays grew by 7.1% (+3.9% for residents and +8.7% for non-residents).
Nights spent by Spanish guests with significant growth of 47.5% in March
The 10 main source markets in March represented 75.6% of total overnight stays from non-residents this month, among which the one with the greatest weight stands out, the British market (16.4% of total overnight stays from non-residents in March) with an increase of 9.3%.
Overnight stays from German guests (13.7% of the total), the second main market, grew 12.1% in March. This was followed by the Spanish market (share of 11.5%), which registered a significant increase of 47.5%.
In the group of 10 main issuing markets, the Irish, Canadian and North American markets also stood out (shares of 2.9%, 3.9% and 8.9%, respectively) for the most significant growth, +30.7 %, +27.5% and +23.9%, in the same order, compared to the same month of the previous year.
In the 1st quarter of 2024, among the 10 markets with the highest number of overnight stays, the highlights were
growth in the Canadian (+24.2%), Polish (+22.7%) and North American (+18.1%) markets, while the French and Brazilian markets recorded the biggest decreases (-8.3% and – 4.5%, respectively).
Sleeps increased in all regions
In March, all regions recorded growth in overnight stays. The most significant increases were observed in the West and Vale do Tejo (+29.4%), in the Center (+23.1%) and in Alentejo (+21.0%), while the most modest increases were recorded in AR Madeira (+4.1%) and Greater Lisbon (+8.9%).
Resident overnight stays increased in all regions, with the exception of AR Madeira (-12.9%) and Greater Lisbon (-2.4%). The West and Tagus Valley stood out with the greatest growth (+23.0%), followed by the Center (+22.6%), Alentejo (+22.5%) and the Algarve (+21. two%).
Non-resident overnight stays grew in all regions, most significantly in the West and Tagus Valley (+35.8%), in AR Açores (+24.4%) and in the Center (+24.3%).
Residents’ average stay increased
In March, the average stay in tourist accommodation establishments (2.48 nights) increased by 0.5% (-0.7% in February). This indicator recorded the highest growth in AR Açores (+6.5%) and in Oeste and Vale do Tejo (+3.5%).
The highest values of this indicator continued to be observed in AR Madeira (4.51 nights) and in the Algarve (3.74 nights), with the shortest stays occurring in the Center (1.68 nights) and in Alentejo (1. 76 nights).
In March, the average stay for residents (1.80 nights) increased by 1.7% and that of non-residents (2.92 nights) decreased by 0.8%.
The average stay of non-residents was longer than that of residents in all regions, with RA Madeira recording the longest average stays, both for residents (2.78 nights) and non-residents (4.97 nights). In addition to RA Madeira, the average stays observed in the Algarve (2.56 nights for residents and 4.17 nights for non-residents) and in RA Açores (2.53 nights and 3.38 nights, in the same order) were also above of the national average stays.
Net occupancy rates increased
The net bed occupancy rate in tourist accommodation establishments (42.2%) increased in March (+2.9 pp, after -0.4 pp in February). The same happened with the net room occupancy rate (51.7%), which registered a growth of 1.5 pp (-0.6 pp in February).
In March, the highest bed occupancy rates continued to be recorded in RA Madeira (65.1%) and Greater Lisbon (56.3%), while the lowest were recorded in Alentejo (27.7%) and in the Center (28.9%). The biggest increases in this indicator were seen in the West and Tagus Valley (+5.1 pp) and in the Center (+4.0 pp).
