In 2016, according to the data available from the World Tourism Organization, the number of international tourist arrivals was 1.2 billion in the world, corresponding to a 3.9% increase. Europe was the destination of half (615.2 million) of the international tourists arrivals (+2.1% towards 2015).
When considering the tourist accommodation activity (hotels and similar establishments, rural/lodging tourism and local accommodation), the number of guests totalled 21.3 million (+11.1%) and overnight stays stood at 59.4 million (+11.6%), corresponding to an acceleration vis-à-vis 2015 (+10.9% and +9.1%, respectively).
The total revenue and that from accommodation, in the tourist accommodation activity, amounted to EUR 3.1 billion and EUR 2.3 billion, respectively, with notable increases of 18.1% and 19.2% (+15,0% e +16,7% in 2015).
The hotel activity registered 17.95 million guests and 51.4 million overnight stays. Residents' overnight stays (14.2 million) grew by 6.3% (+5.7% in 2015) and foreigners (37.2 million) increased by 12.1% (7.5% in 2015) . The revenue per available room (RevPAR) in the hotel activity was EUR 44.6, corresponding to an increase of 14.2% over the previous year (+13.4% in 2015).
Considering International Tourism, foreigners who visited Portugal entered mainly by road (55.6%). 41% of visitors arrived by plane and the remaining on cruise ships. Around 69% of foreign tourists visiting Portugal came for leisure, recreation or holidays. Visits to relatives or friends attracted 20.3% of the tourists, while the professional or business reasons corresponded to 8.0% of the total.

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