Tourism exports in Portugal recorded market share gains in nominal terms in the last two years, extending the good performance of the sector observed in the pre-pandemic years and pointing to the existence of important non-price competitiveness factors. Available information for the first half of 2022 points to particularly significant market share gains compared to the same period of 2019. 

In August, tourism exports in nominal terms were about 20% above pre-pandemic levels. This growth is sharper than suggested by volume indicators — as overnight stays by non-residents reached the pre-pandemic level only in July — in a context of strong price increases in the sector.

The recovery of tourism exports has occurred in a differentiated manner by country of origin of visitors and by segments of tourism supply, with an emphasis on nearby countries, less densely populated regions and local accommodation and tourism in rural areas and lodging tourism. The recovery of both real and price tourism export indicators was extensive to other Mediterranean countries, direct competitors of Portuguese tourism.

For more details see Box 4 "The recovery of tourism exports in 2022" in the October 2022 Banco de Portugal Economic Bulletin.

Prepared by Sara Serra. The analyses, opinions and findings expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily coincide with those of Banco de Portugal or the Eurosystem.

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