Tourism in Portugal’s capital is expected to reach 85 per cent of its pre-pandemic levels, with the possibility for tourism in Lisbon to reach pre-pandemic levels by 2023, the local media reports.
“Perhaps we can reach the end of this year, if everything goes as it has so far, at about 85 per cent of 2019. We hope in 2023 to reach the previous values,” the Director-General of the Lisbon Tourism Association, Vítor Cost, said.
He also pointed out that the outcome depends on several variables, including the war in Ukraine affecting fuel prices, which reflects in the prices of air travel – essential for Lisbon due to its geographical position, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
As experts say, business and leisure tourism, for which Lisbon is known, is expected to increase in the upcoming months, although these have been the industry’s most affected sectors during the pandemic.
These forecasts for 2022 and 2023 are based on the recovery already recorded in 2021, which was 30 per cent higher than in the previous year and 58 per cent down compared to pre-pandemic levels.
The recovery rate of tourism in Portugal is off to a good start, as the country’s Statistics Institute (INE) has previously revealed that a 500 per cent increase in the sector has been recorded during February. The authority further explains that accommodation facilities have hosted 1.2 million guests and recorded 2.9 million overnight stays during this period, marking increases of 507 and 527.1 per cent, respectively.
As the figures show, February was a successful start, as the recovery rates exceeded those from January, which were 182.3 per cent up compared to the corresponding time in 2021 regarding the number of guests and 185 per cent for overnight stays.
In a podcast recently hosted by the European Statistical Office, Eurostat, authorities like Christophe Demunter and Ulf Sonntag from NIT, a tourism research institute in Germany, said that the domestic market has peaked during the pandemic, which is exactly the case with Portugal.
INE data shows that 857,000 overnight stays from the domestic market were recorded in the country in January, marking a 104.5 per cent surge compared to last year’s same time.
In addition, Eurocontrol – the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, has previously revealed that Portugal’s air traffic has managed to reach the closest pre-pandemic levels, as it is operating at 93 per cent capacity of 2019 levels, being the leading country of all 27-nation-bloc regarding the matter. In recent weeks, Portugal operated 1,078 flights.