Estimates from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) reveal that the majority of travel originated within Portuguese territory. Domestic travel accounted for 86.3% of the total, while international travel represented 13.7%.
Nonetheless, there was a higher growth in international travel. The upward trend observed in the last two quarters of 2024 continued into the first quarter, with an 18.5% year-on-year increase, according to the INE. Meanwhile, domestic travel increased by 15.6%.
In total, there were 4.5 million domestic trips and 710,500 international journeys.
The INE stated that the primary motivations for travel in the first quarter of 2025 were to “visit family or friends,” resulting in 2.1 million trips (40.9% of the total, down 6.3 percentage points compared to the first quarter of 2024), and for “leisure, recreation, or holidays,” which also motivated approximately 2.1 million trips by residents (40.8%, up 3.1 percentage points compared to the first quarter of 2024).
During these first months of the year, Portuguese residents favored staying with family or friends.
According to the INE, “free private accommodation” was the leading lodging option, accounting for 64.7% of overnight stays (9.2 million). Meanwhile, “hotels and similar” made up 26.5% (3.8 million overnight stays).
“Visiting family or friends” continued to be the main motivation for travel in the first quarter of 2025, similar to the same period last year, with 2.1 million trips, equating to 40.9% of the total.
Trips for “leisure, recreation, or holidays” increased by 25.4%, resulting in 2.1 million journeys. Lastly, trips for “professional or business” reasons rose by 48%, totaling 647,400 travels.
While “visiting family and friends” was the main reason for domestic travel (44.4%, or 2 million trips), the main reason for international travel was “leisure, recreation, or holidays” (59.1% of the total, 420,100 trips).
The INE statistical note mentions that the second main reason for domestic trips was “leisure, recreation, or holidays” (37.9% of the total; 1.7 million trips). Meanwhile, the second leading reason for international trips was “professional or business” motivations, accounting for 19.6% of the total (139,600 trips).
The number of trips increased every month during the first quarter, with a 36% rise in January, 15.9% in February, and 0.7% in March.
On average, when traveling, Portuguese tourists stayed for 2.75 nights. This figure was lower than the first quarter of the previous year when the average was 2.84 nights.
“The longest average duration was recorded in February,” at 2.82 nights, while the shortest was in January, at 2.67 nights, as per INE’s data.
In the first three months of the year, “20.4% of residents made at least one tourist journey.”
The proportion of residents who “made at least one trip decreased in March (-1.3 percentage points) but increased in January and February (+2.5 and +0.9 percentage points, respectively),” the INE noted.
Regarding travel arrangements, INE’s statistical information shows that the Internet was used in 27.1% of cases. For trips abroad, it was the medium used in 76.2% of situations, while for domestic travel, this occurred in only 19.4% of cases.
