Markets
Germany
Market Characterization for Portugal

In 2024, Germany positioned itself as the 2nd tourist market for destination Portugal measured by the overnight stays indicator (share: 11.3%) and the 4th in terms of guests (8.9%). In 2024, the German market recorded around 1,730.0 thousand guests (var.24/23: +6.7%) who generated 6,351.0 thousand overnight stays (var.24/23: +4.5%). It stands out as the 3rd market in terms of tourism revenue with €3 121.0 million (share: 11.3%), 8.3% more than in 2023.

In terms of overnight stays, Madeira was the main destination for German tourists visiting Portugal (30.9%), followed by the Algarve (28.9%) and Greater Lisbon (18.1%). In terms of type, overnight stays in hotels predominated (59.4%), followed by local accommodation (16.6%) and apartment hotels (10.4%).

Portugal ranks 6th in total outbound air flows in the market; 5 airlines account for 91% of total capacity: Lufthansa (share: 27.4%), TAP (23.1%), Ryanair (17.9%), Eurowings (17.6%) and TUIfly (5.0%). Most operations originate in the cities of Frankfurt (29.6%), Munich (share: 18.9%), Dusseldorf (13.8%), Berlin (10.6%) and Hamburg (7.9%).

It should be noted that the German tourist has an average stay of 10.2 nights in Portugal (ForwardKeys, 2024); the majority buy a direct plane ticket (share: 66.2%); and travel as a couple (40.1%).

According to SIBS data, Greater Lisbon will account for 29.4% of the 575.2 million euros in card purchases originating in Germany in 2024. Despite recording the highest number of overnight stays, Madeira comes in 4th place (share:12.4%), after the Algarve (27.8%) and the North (14.2%).

2024 Position | Year-over-Year Change
Guests 1.7M 4º | 6.7%
Overnight stays 6.4M 2º | 4.5%
Tourism revenue 3120.6M€ 3º | 8.3%
Disembarked passengers 0 0º | 0.0%

Market Profile
Change 24/23
83.5 M Population
-0.5 %
67244.7 USD GDP per Capita
2.5 %
2.4 % Inflation Rate
-3.6 pp
27.0 % Savings Rate
0.0 pp

Germany is a Central European country with 83.6 million inhabitants in 2024 (its share of the European Union was 18.6%), the 3rd largest economy in the world and the 1st in Europe.

According to Globaldata, Germany was the world's 3rd largest tourist market in 2024, generating 124.9 million trips and accounting for 7.8% of total global tourism demand. Around 88.2% of flows are concentrated on the European continent. According to Reiseanalyse data, in 2024, the top 5 regions sending German tourists abroad (share of total outbound: 67.6%) were: North Rhine-Westphalia (21.5% share), Bavaria (15.6%), Baden-Württemberg (13.4%), Lower Saxony (9.7%) and Hesse (7.4%).

In turn, 56.4% of trips abroad made by German tourists in 2024 were by land; 39.9% were by air; and 3.7% were by sea.

Team
info.germany@turismodeportugal.pt
Perspectives

The most recent IMF figures indicate that the German economy will shrink by 0.3% in 2023, as a result of the current unfavorable international climate, particularly with the conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East, rising energy costs and other raw materials and intermediate goods, and the outlook is for stagnation in 2024 and growth of around 0.8% in 2025.

According to GlobalData, between 2025 and 2028, international departures from Germany are expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.4% to reach a total of 141.0 million departures in 2028. Spending by German tourists abroad is expected to increase at a CAGR of 7.7% between 2024 and 2028.

According to estimates by OAG Scheludes Analyser, for the 2024 summer season compared to 2023 (April 1 to September 30), the number of available scheduled air seats is led by Spain with 10.8 million seats (+6.5%), followed by Turkey: 8.2 million (+3.5%), Italy: 5.6 million (+13.7%), Greece: 4.8 million (+6.2%), Portugal: 1.7 million (+1.8%) and Croatia: 1.2 million (+13.1%).

Forwardkeys' data on bookings indicates that passenger forecasts from the German market to Portugal for the period January to June 2025 are expected to grow by +5.7% compared to the previous year.

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