The number of overnight stays by residents holidaying in Portugal has helped to save the tourism industry however it has not been enough to prevent a negative balance for the year so far.

Overnight stays from non-resident tourists fell 30.7 percent in year-on-year terms during the first seven months of 2021, however, there was a rise of 31.7 percent in overnight stays from residents of Portugal but this did not prevent the 2.4 percent fall of total overnight stays, according to INE.

Between January and July 2021, overnight stays from residents represented 61.2 percent of the total, a share that contrasts with that verified in 2020 (45.3 percent of the total) and in 2019 (29.1 percent of the total).

The INE recalls that 19.1 percent of tourist accommodation establishments were closed or did not register any movement of guests in July (26 percent in June), a month in which tourist accommodation registered 1.6 million guests and 4.5 million overnight stays, over one million guests and 2.6 million overnight stays recorded in July 2020.

In July, the British market represented 13.1 percent of total overnight stays from foreign tourists, followed by the Spanish market (16.9 percent), French (14.8 percent) and the Dutch (6.3 percent).

Looking at the first seven months of this year, INE saw increases in the Polish (+103.8 percent), Swiss (+35.9 percent) and Belgian (+30.2 percent) markets, while in the other main markets it registered decreases.

The Algarve concentrated 34.5 percent of overnight stays in July, followed by the North (15.5 percent), the Metropolitan Area (AM) of Lisbon (14.6 percent) and the Autonomous Region (RA) of Madeira (12.1 percent).

Overnight stays from residents, between January and July, increased in all regions, with a particular focus on Madeira (136 percent), Azores (99.9 percent) and the Algarve (54.6 percent), but in terms of overnight stays of non-residents, all regions showed decreases in this period, except for the Azores (+31.8 percent).