In the 3rd quarter of 2022, residents in Portugal made 8.2 million trips, i.e., an increase of 5.9% (-5.8% compared to the 3rd quarter of 2019). Domestic trips corresponded to 88.4% of the total trips (7.2 million), decreasing by 0.6% (-5.2% when compared to the 3rd quarter of 2019). Trips abroad increased by 109.0% but remained 10.6% below the levels recorded in 2019, amounting to 950.6 thousand trips.
“Leisure, recreation, or holidays” were the main reasons for traveling in the 3rd quarter of 2022 (5.5 million trips, +1.5%; -4.9% compared to the 3rd quarter of 2019), despite the loss of representativeness (66.9% of the total, -2.9 p.p. vis-à-vis the 3rd quarter of 2021). The “visit to relatives or friends” followed as a reason to travel, growing by 11.7% (-6.4% compared to the 3rd quarter of 2019), and corresponded to 2.2 million trips (26.4% of the total; +1.4 p.p.).
“Hotels and similar” tourism establishments accounted for 31.0% of overnight stays spent on tourism trips in the 3rd quarter of 2022, growing in representativeness (+1.7 p.p.) and surpassing pre-pandemic levels (+3.7 p.p. in comparison with the 3rd quarter of 2019). “Free private accommodation” remained as the main accommodation option (54.5% of overnight stays; -2.2 p.p.). The internet was used in 29.9% of the bookings (+4.6 p.p.), having been an option in 66.0% (+0.7 p.p.) of trips abroad and 25.1% (+2.3 p.p.) of domestic trips.
The number of trips taken by residents increased in the 3rd quarter but remained below 2019 levels
In the 3rd quarter of 2022, the number of trips taken by residents in Portugal increased by 5.9% when compared with the same period in 2021 (+52.2% in the 2nd quarter of 2022) and amounted to 8.2 million trips. These figures stood 5.8% below those of the 3rd quarter of 2019, as a result of the rates of change of both domestic trips (-5.2%) and trips abroad (-10.6%).
The number of trips increased in all months of the quarter: +10.6% in July, +4.7% in August, and +1.9% in September. When compared to the same months in 2019, only July recorded a slight increase (+0.7%), given that in August and September, there were reductions of 9.2% and 7.4%, respectively.
In the 3rd quarter of 2022, the number of domestic trips amounted to 7.2 million and corresponded to 88.4% of the trips made (87.7% in the 3rd quarter of 2019; 85.9% in the 2nd quarter of 2022), having slightly decreased (-0.6%) when compared to the 3rd quarter of 2021 (-5.2% compared to the 3rd quarter of 2019; +34.9% in the 2nd quarter of 2022). Monthly, the rates of change were +2.6% in July, -1.9% in August, and -2.4% in September. The number of trips abroad was the highest since the beginning of the pandemic, amounting to 950.6 thousand (+109.0% compared to the 3rd quarter of 2021 and -10.6% vis-à-vis the 3rd quarter of 2019; +592.8% in the 2nd quarter of 2022) and corresponded to 11.6% of the total (14.1% in the 2nd quarter of 2022; 12.3% in the 3rd quarter of 2019).
“Leisure, recreation, or holidays” remained the main motivation to travel in the 3rd quarter of 2022 (5.5 million trips, +1.5%; -4.9% when compared to the 3rd quarter of 2019) and recorded the only decrease in representativeness (66.9% of the total) when compared to the 3rd quarter of 2022 (-2.9 p.p.; 66.2% of the total in the 3rd quarter of 2019). The “visit to relatives or friends” as a motivation to travel corresponded to 2.2 million trips (26.4% of the total, +1.4 p.p.; 26.6% of the total in the 3rd quarter of 2019), growing 11.7% (-6.4% in comparison with the same period in 2019; +44.4% in the 2nd quarter of 2022). Trips made for “professional or business” reasons (337.1 thousand) increased by 63.4% (-3.2% compared to 2019; +118.0% in the 2nd quarter of 2022) and increased its representativeness to 4.1% (+1.5 p.p.) of the total.
“Leisure, recreation, or holidays” as a motivation to travel kept its predominance in domestic trips (65.5%; -5.0 p.p., 4.7 million trips) and in trips abroad (77.6%; +18.8 p.p., corresponding to 737.7 thousand trips). The “visit to relatives or friends” was the second main reason for the trips taken, corresponding to 28.1% (+3.1 p.p., 2.0 million trips) of domestic trips and 13.6% (-12.4 p.p., 129.1 thousand trips) of trips abroad.
In the 3rd quarter of 2022, 45.2% of all trips were made through the booking of services (+3.3 p.p.), a percentage that amounted to 94.0% (+10.8 p.p.) in the case of trips abroad and 38.8% in domestic trips (-0.5 p.p.).
The Internet was used in 29.9% of the bookings (+4.6 p.p.) and was chosen in 66.0% (+0.7 p.p.) of trips abroad and 25.1% (+2.3 p.p.) of domestic trips.
“Hotels and similar” strengthened their predominance in the 3rd quarter and increased compared to 2019
“Hotels and similar” establishments accounted for 31.0% of overnight stays spent on tourist trips in the 3rd quarter of 2022, increasing its representativeness (+1.7 p.p.; +3.7 p.p. vis-à-vis the 3rd quarter of 2019). “Free private accommodation” remained the main accommodation option at 54.5% of the total, despite losing representativeness (-2.2 p.p. compared to the 3rd quarter of 2021 and to the 3rd quarter of 2019).
Increase in the average trip duration compared to the 3rd quarter of 2019
In the 3rd quarter of 2022, on average, each trip lasted 6.05 nights (6.17 nights in the 3rd quarter of 2021; 5.76 nights in the 3rd quarter of 2019). The lowest average duration was registered in September (4.04 nights) and the highest occurred in August (6.68 nights).
The proportion of resident tourists increased slightly but is still below 2019 levels In the 3rd quarter of 2022, 40.0% of the residents took at least one tourism trip, +0.7 p.p. when compared to the 3rd quarter of 2021 (-2.3 p.p. compared to the 3rd quarter of 2019). Monthly, there were increases in the proportion of residents who traveled in July and August (+2.2 p.p. and +0.7 p.p., respectively, compared to the same months of 2021), having slightly decreased in September (-0.1 p.p.). Compared with the same months in 2019, the variations observed were -0.6 p.p., -1.6 p.p., and -1.3 p.p., respectively.
