Markets

France

Market Characterization for Portugal

In 2025, France ranked as the 5th largest source market for Portugal in terms of overnight stays (share: 7.4%) and also in terms of guests (share: 7.8%). In 2025, the French market recorded approximately 1,535,000 guests (year-over-year change: -6.4%), who generated 4,223,300 overnight stays (year-over-year change: -7.0%). It stands out as the 3rd largest market in terms of tourism receipts with €3,196.5 million (share: 11.0%), down 1.2% compared to 2024.

In terms of overnight stays, Lisboa was the main destination for French tourists visiting Portugal (26.0%), followed by the Algarve (22.5%) and the Norte (22.2%). By type of accommodation, hotel stays predominated (59.9%), followed by alojamento local (19,2%) and hotéis-apartamentos (9.0%).

The airlines that carried French tourists to Portugal were: Transavia France (23.6%), Easyjet Europe (share: 21.9%), TAP (20.7%), Ryanair (18.8%), and Air France (8.0%). Most flights originated in Paris (share: 59.9%), followed by Lyon (8.9%), Nantes (7.7%), Marseille (5.8%), Toulouse (4.2%), Nice (4.1%), and Bordeaux (5.5%).

According to SIBS data, the Norte accounts for 37.8% of the €1,001.1 million in card spending originating in France in 2025. Lisboa ranks second (share: 18.7%), followed by Centro (14.9%) and the Algarve (13.9%).

2025 Position | Year-over-Year Change

Guests 1.5M 5º | -6.4%

Overnight stays 4.2M 5º | -6.6%

Tourism receipts 3242.6M€ 3º | -1.1%

Disembarked passengers 3.9M 2º | -2.8%

Market Profile

Change 25/24

68.7 M Population

0.2 %

66275.9 USD GDP per Capita

3.5 %

0.9 % Inflation Rate

-1.4 pp

21.5 % Savings Rate

0.0 pp

France is a country in Central Europe with a population of 68.5 million in 2024; it was the 7th largest economy in the world and the 3rd largest in Europe.

According to Globaldata, in 2024, France was the 5th largest source market for tourists worldwide, generating 61.1 million trips and accounting for 3.8% of total global tourism demand. Approximately 74.7% of these trips were within Europe. 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 taken by French tourists in 2024 were by air, 37.1% were by land, and 1.5% were by sea.

Team

Market Team Coordinator

Jean-Pierre Pinheiro

Info.France@turismodeportugal.pt

0033156883190

Outlook

The IMF reports that France’s economy grew by 1.1% in 2023, due to the current unfavorable international economic climate, the conflict in Ukraine, the war in the Middle East (Israel-Hamas), and rising costs for energy, raw materials, and intermediate goods. Similar growth of around 1.1% is projected for 2024 and 2025.

According to GlobalData, between 2025 and 2028, international departures by French tourists 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% over the same period.

According to estimates from OAG Schedules 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 estimated 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%).

An analysis of the scheduled capacity from France for the 2024–2025 winter season (October 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025) indicates a slight increase of 0.4% compared to the 2023–2024 winter season. The following number of available airline seats for major European destinations is projected: 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 from the French market to Portugal for the period from September 2025 to February 2026 point to a 13.9% decrease compared to the same period the previous 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%).