Demonstrating continued international appeal, Porto recently achieved its second consecutive win at the World Travel Awards' European competition, being named Europe's Leading Seaside Metropolitan Destination.
Furthermore, Porto attained the 8th spot on Time Out magazine's 2025 list of the World's 50 Best Cities and secured the 19th position in Movingto.io's 2025 ranking of top cities for Digital Nomads.
The city’s unique setting and well-preserved heritage
are some of the reasons why Porto is attracting a growing number of tourists.
From its historic centre, to a UNESCO World Heritage site, from the world-famous
Port Wine and local gastronomy, to the supply of quality accommodation,
leisure, and cultural options, Porto delights tourists with the
"right" chills, providing them with a positive and lifelong experience.
Porto is undergoing a rapid tourism development,
recording one of the best sector performances in Portugal and Europe. Exhibiting substantial growth in 2024, the tourism sector within Portugal's North Region accounted for approximately 14 million overnight stays. The city of Porto itself was a major contributor, registering 6.2 million overnight stays over the course of the year. This performance positions Porto and the North as the second most sought-after region in the country.
According to the Portugal Hotel Market 2024 report, recent performance trends strongly suggest that the tourism and hotel sector will continue to drive Portugal's economic growth in the coming period. Tourism
development also drove up the performance of the local real estate market,
which was considered by Forbes as one of the top
6 investment picks in Europe for 2020.
Porto International Airport and the new Porto Cruise Terminal are the two main entryways for international tourists visiting the city. Both infrastructures have won international awards for their quality and design, and both have enough capacity to accommodate increased passenger flows.
Porto
Airport stands as the fastest growing airport in Portugal, reaching a record of almost 16 million passengers in 2024. This highly connected hub hosts regular flights
to 120 destinations and has been distinguished as the Best Airport in Europe by ACI Airport Service
Quality Awards 2023, in the category of 10-25 Million passengers.
The
new Porto Cruise Terminal received 152 cruise ships and 196,000 tourists in 2024. It has won multiple international prizes of
architecture and design, including Building of the Year 2017 by ArchDaily International, and People's Choice 2016 by AZ Awards.
Porto offers access to talent from the large network
of local schools specializing in Tourism and Hospitality education. They offer
training programmes sponsored by the national tourism authority (Turismo de
Portugal I.P.), which specialize in hospitality, catering, and tourism. Porto
also hosts several professional and higher education schools which offer
courses in the tourism sector.
A broad range of incentives and business support measures are available for Tourism & hospitality companies in Porto. Use our Incentives guide tool to learn more.
You can also contact us directly to receive tailored support for your project.
