Tourist demand in Central Portugal approaches pre-pandemic levels
Tourist activity in Central Portugal in February recorded numbers approaching pre-pandemic levels, which leaves a year of recovery for the sector in this region.
Entrepreneurs in the tourism sector have finally begun to see light at the end of the tunnel. This is a conclusion drawn from the advertisement released today by the INE – Instituto Nacional de Estatística, referring to the month.
In terms of the number of overnight stays, the Center of Portugal totaled 335.6 thousand in February, which represents a growth of 399.6% compared to the 67.2 thousand registered in the same month of last year. A growth that clearly demonstrates how much the covid-19 epidemic affects tourist activity in 2021.
Comparing with pre-pandemic numbers, even so, it appears that the 335,600 overnight stays in February 2022 are already higher than the 327,800 registered in February 2019, when the world was far from imagining that it would arise. a disease capable of paralyzing tourism at a global level. The month of February 2022 was, in fact, the third best February ever for tourism in Central Portugal, only surpassed by February 2020 (the month before the arrival of the pandemic in our country), which totaled 417.8 thousand overnight stays, and February 2018, with 340.8 thousand.
National visitors should be highlighted for these positive numbers. In February 2022, there is a record of 255 thousand overnight stays by Portuguese visitors in Central Portugal (76% of the total), a figure only surpassed by the 292.3 thousand in February 2020. With a significant difference: this year, there is no experienced the vast majority of carnival cuts, which attract thousands of visitors from the region.
As for overnight stays from foreign visitors, these were 80,500 in February 2022. A number still far from the best year (125,400 in February 2020), but 496% higher than the 13,500 in February 2021 .
The number of guests indicator was also positive. The month of February 2022, compared to February 2021, saw a percentage increase of 5.9%: there were 32,300 in February 2021 and there were 201,800 last month in the region