In the 4th quarter 2016, residents in Portugal made 4.4 million tourist trips, which stood for a 6.2% increase vis-à-vis the 4th Q 2015  (9.6% in the 3rd Q 2016). Short term trips increased by 11.4% (11.8% in the 3rd Q 2016) and corresponded to 80.7% of the total trips. Domestic trips grew by 6.2% (9.9% in the 3rd Q 2016) and represented 90.9% of the total.
“Visit to relatives or friends” was the main reason behind 2.6 million trips (59.4% of the total, -1.4 p.p., from -1.7 p.p. in the 3rd Q). “Leisure, recreation or holidays” as a motivation to travel accounted for 1.2 million trips (28.1% of the total, +4.1 p.p.) and “professional or business” reasons triggered 364.1 thousand trips (8.2% weight, -3.1 p.p.).
With 85.7% of all overnight stays, "free private accommodation" increased its representativeness (+1.5 p.p., following +2.1 p.p. in the 3rd Q). With 11.0% of overnight stays, "hotels and similar accommodation” lost importance (-1.2 p.p.) as in the preceding quarter (-1.1 p.p. in the 3rd Q).
In the year 2016, 20.05 million tourist trips were made, reflecting an increase of 4.7% (7.0% in 2015). The main reason to travel was the "visit to relatives or friends", which originated 8.81 million trips (43.9%, -0.9 p.p.), followed closely by "leisure, recreation or holiday", with 8.78 million trips (43.8%, +1.6 p.p.).