Portugal aiming for 500,000 Chinese tourists

After the Chinese market reached 286,676 guests and 511,680 overnight stays in 2024, corresponding to revenues of 154.5 million euros, in Portugal, Tiago Brito, director of the Turismo de Portugal delegation in China, spoke to Publituris, on the sidelines of the 13th edition of MITE, which took place from 25 to 27 April, in Macau, revealing that the objective for the Chinese market “is to reach, in the next three years, 500 thousand guests and 1 million overnight stays in Portugal”.

The figures released during the fair, referring to 2024, place China as the largest source market for Portugal in Asia, ahead of Korea (which recorded 223,803 guests and 352,391 overnight stays, corresponding to revenue of 97 million euros), India (with 99,279 guests and 223,436 overnight stays, corresponding to revenue of 57.3 million euros), and Japan (with 77,146 guests and 157,824 overnight stays, corresponding to 43.3 million euros).

Tiago Brito acknowledges that “Portugal has maintained its growth curve in terms of the Chinese market, although we are still far from the 385,000 guests of 2019. We all know that the Asian market has been the slowest in recovering in travel, but there is a clear recovery in the sector”, indicating that, by 2025, estimates indicate that it could reach 200 million euros in revenue.

The director of the Tourism of Portugal delegation in China recalled the more than 153 thousand inhabitants with Portuguese nationality who live in Macau and Hong Kong, confirming that “Portugal has been ahead of other European markets in the recovery in Asia”, indicating a growth of 27% in the first two months of 2025, compared to the same period in 2024.

Furthermore, Tiago Brito highlighted the “need to increase the average stay of Chinese tourists, which remains low [an average of 1.8 nights]”, making it the third shortest of the countries analyzed, with the lead belonging to India (with an average of 2.3 nights), Japan (with an average of 2 nights), but ahead of Korea (with an average of 1.6 nights).

As for the average revenue per guest, Chinese tourists register 538.94 euros, with the average revenue per overnight stay totaling 301.95 euros. Compared to the other three Asian markets analyzed, India has a higher average revenue per guest (576.76 euros), but a lower average revenue per night (256.27 euros). The same situation can be seen in Japan, with an average revenue per guest of 561.27 euros, but an average revenue per night of 274.36 euros. Finally, Korea records an average revenue per guest of 433.37 euros and an average revenue per night of 275.23 euros.

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