Markets
France
Market Characterization for Portugal

In 2024, France ranked as the fifth largest tourist market for Portugal in terms of overnight stays (share: 8.0%) and guests (8.5%). In 2024, the French market registered around 1,639,200 guests (var. 24/23: -3.0%), who generated 4,538,900 overnight stays (var. 24/23: -2.6%). It stands out as the second largest market in terms of tourism revenue with €3,223.8 million (share: 11.7%), up 1.8% compared to 2023.

In terms of overnight stays, Greater Lisbon was the main destination for French tourists visiting Portugal (27.4%), followed by the Algarve (22.1%) and the North (21.9%). In terms of type, hotel stays predominated (60.9%), followed by local accommodation (19.2%) and apartment hotels (8.9%).

Portugal ranks fourth in total outbound air traffic in the market. During this period, the airlines that transported French tourists to Portugal were: Easyjet (share: 23.8%), Ryanair (22.3%), Transavia France (20.2%), TAP (18.3%), and Air France (7.9%). Most operations originate in the cities of Paris (share: 54.5%), followed by Lyon (10.9%), Nantes (6.6%), Marseille (6.1%), Toulouse (5.6%), and Bordeaux (5.5%).

It should be noted that French tourists stay an average of 11.4 nights in Portugal (ForwardKeys); most buy direct airline tickets (share: 85.8%); and travel in pairs (35.3%).

According to SIBS data, the North accounts for 35.8% of the €1,148.5 million in card purchases originating in France in 2024. Greater Lisbon comes in second place (share: 21.5%), followed by the Algarve (14.7%).

2024 Position | Year-over-Year Change
Guests 1.6M 5º | -3.0%
Overnight stays 4.5M 5º | -2.6%
Tourism revenue 3223.8M€ 2º | 1.8%
Disembarked passengers 4.0M 2º | -4.7%

Market Profile
Change 24/23
68.5 M Population
0.3 %
60338.9 USD GDP per Capita
2.9 %
2.4 % Inflation Rate
-3.3 pp
21.7 % Savings Rate
0.0 pp

France is a country in Central Europe with 68.5 million inhabitants in 2024 and was the 7th largest economy in the world.

According to Globaldata, in 2024, France was the 5th largest tourist market in the world, generating 61.1 million trips, accounting for 3.8% of total global tourist demand. Around 74.8% of flows are concentrated on the European continent. The main French city of origin for flights to Portugal was Paris (54.5% share), followed by Lyon (10.9%), Nantes (6.6%), Marseille (6.1%), Toulouse (5.6%), Bordeaux (5.5%), Nice (3.4%), Lille (1.2%), and other cities (6.2%).

In turn, 61.4% of trips abroad made by French tourists in 2024 were by air, 37.1% were by land, and 1.5% were by sea.

Team
Info.France@turismodeportugal.pt
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Perspectives

The IMF reveals that France's economy grew by 1.1% in 2023 as a result of the current unfavorable international situation, conflict in Ukraine, war in the Middle East (Israel-Hamas), and increased costs of energy and other raw materials and intermediate goods. Similar growth of around 1.1% is expected for 2024 and 2025.

According to GlobalData, between 2025 and 2028, international departures by French tourists abroad are expected to grow at a CAGR of 2.5%, reaching 67.6 million departures in 2028. Spending by French tourists abroad is expected to increase at a CAGR of 8.2% for the same period.

According to estimates by OAG Scheludes Analyser, based on the 2024 summer season compared to 2023 (which will see an overall increase of 4.6%), the following number of available airline seats to major European destinations was assessed for the period from April 1 to September 30, 2024: Spain: 5.3 million seats (+5.2%), Italy: 4.8 million (+7.5%), Portugal: 2.8 million (-6.3%), Greece: 1.7 million (+11.5%) and Turkey: 1.1 million (+10.2%).

Analyzing the volume of scheduled capacity from France for this winter 2024-2025 (from October 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025), a slight increase of 0.4% is estimated compared to the 2023-2024 winter season. Evaluating the following number of available airline seats for the main European destinations: Spain: 3.9 million seats (-3.8%), Italy: 3.7 million (+70.1%), United Kingdom: 3.2 million (+0.5%), Portugal: 2.1 million (+9.2%), Turkey: 950,000 (-7.6%) and Greece: 250,000 (-9.1%).

According to Forwardkeys data, flight forecasts in terms of passengers originating in the French market to Portugal for the period from April to September 2025 point to a decrease of 9.0% compared to the same period last year.

TOP 10 destinations 2024: Spain (share: 19.8%), Italy (14.0%), United Kingdom (5.0%), Germany (3.2%), Greece (3.1%), USA (3.0%), Portugal (2.9%), Belgium (2.4%), Morocco (2.3%) and Turkey (1.8%).

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