Expenditure by foreign tourists in Portugal and Portuguese tourists in other countries increased by 17.4% and 10.5% respectively in March, year-on-year, accelerating compared to the previous month, the Bank of Portugal (BdP) announced today.
“In March 2024, the preliminary travel and tourism indicator points to a growth in exports of 17.4% compared to March 2023 (after a 14.6% variation in February) and a growth in imports of 10.5% (after a 6.1% variation in February),” says the banking regulator.
The preliminary travel and tourism indicator of the balance of payments released today points out that the sharper growth observed in the same period of the previous year is justified by the restrictions on movement imposed as response measures to the covid-19 pandemic, which were in force in the first quarter of 2022 and have been progressively lifted.
The series released today are preliminary figures for the year-on-year rate of change, both for spending by foreign tourists in Portugal and for spending by residents in Portugal when they travel to other countries.
According to the central bank, “this information is based on a more restricted set of data, predominantly from bank cards, and does not replace the historical series of travel and tourism exports and imports published in BPstat.
