Porto and the Northern Region lead national guest ranking
The Porto and Northern region closed the first half of this year with more than 885 thousand guests, occupying first place in the national ranking, announced Tourism of Porto and the North of Portugal (TPNP).
Quoted in a statement, the president of TPNT, Luís Pedro Martins, says this is "a clear sign of the Portuguese preference, as already registred in 2020".
Considering only the month of June, and according to data released by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the region received 303,190 guests (+142.8% compared to 2020). In the first six months of the year, guests in the Porto and North region amounted to 885,600.
"It is a sign of recovery in the sector, although still far from the data for 2019, when the region was experiencing historic growth, in a record year in all indicators", recalls the president of TPNP.
According to Luís Pedro Martins, it is, therefore, "necessary to continue to invest in the promotion of the region and the four sub-destinations that comprise it, presenting its assets, in particular, the safety and differentiation of products, ranging from nature to adventure tourism, passing by religious tourism, wine tourism or 'city breaks'".
In terms of overnight stays, Porto and the Northern region recorded a total of 536,663 in June, an increase of 163% compared to 2020.
For the TPNP leader, "the policy that was adopted in the creation of the covid European Digital Certificate is an excellent incentive for a progressive return to normality", but "the repercussions on the ground are still tenuous, so it will be mainly in the mid-term when European countries and others in our main outbound markets, such as Brazil and the US, begin to achieve group immunity."
"What is seen on the ground is that the overnight stays are mostly from residents, in most cases, in small groups and families and from nearby markets such as Spain, France and Germany", he adds.
Luís Pedro Martins is confident that, progressively, "the region will return to normality": "I am convinced that the months of July and August will already show us some very interesting numbers, as happened in 2020, in the sub-regions of Douro, Minho, and Trás-os-Montes, but now also in the big cities", he concludes.
Nationally, the tourist accommodation sector registered 3.9 million guests and 9.4 million overnight stays in the first half of 2021, 15.6% and 19.1% less than in the same period of 2020, although in June it achieved sharp growths.
According to INE, in June the sector registered 1.4 million guests and 3.4 million overnight stays, reflecting increases of 186.9% and 230.1%, respectively (+674.2% and + 681.2% in May, in the same order).
