The tourist accommodation sector registered 2.1 million guests and 5.1 million overnight stays in March 2023, corresponding to increases of 30.8% and 26.7%, respectively (+32.5% and +37.7% in February 2023, in the same order). Compared to March 2019, there were increases of 10.4% in guests and 10.2% in overnight stays.
In March, the domestic market contributed 1.5 million overnight stays (+16.3%) and external markets totalled 3.6 million (+31.6%). Vis-à-vis March 2019, there were increases of 10,0% in overnight stays from residents and 10.3% from non-residents.
Overnight stays from United Kingdom residents (17.0% of total overnight stays from non-residents in March) increased by 8.9% compared to March 2019. The German market (13.7% share) decreased by 3.6% while the Spanish market (9.0% share) grew by 2.9%. The growth of the North American market continued to stand out, both compared to March 2022 (+71,4%) and to March 2019 (+77,9%).
Compared to March 2019, residents’ overnight stays increased in all the regions, more than doubling in RA Madeira (+105,2%). Regarding non-residents, only in the Algarve overnight stays did not reach 2019 levels (-0,7%).
The net bed occupancy rate in tourist accommodation establishments (39.2%) increased 5.8 p.p. in March (36,5%, +7.4 p.p. in February). The net bedroom occupancy rate (49.6%) increased 7.5 p.p. (45,9%, +10.1 p.p. in February). Vis-à-vis March 2019, there were increases of 0.6 p.p. and 2.2 p.p., respectively.
In the first quarter of 2023, overnight stays increased by 40.9%, +22.5% in residents and +51.6% in non-residents. Compared to the first quarter of 2019, overnight stays grew by 14.1%, +19.6% in residents and +11.8% in non-residents.
In March, 28.7% of tourist accommodation establishments were closed or did not register guests (33.6% in February).