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Districts and values of reference for Sale and Rental

Population of the largest cities in Portugal

*Main metropolitan areas:
Lisbon metropolitan area: 2,8 milllion inhabitants
Porto metropolitan area: 1,76 million inhabitants

Portugal’s Population by Regions

Tourism Activities

Tourism is one of the greatest resources that Portugal has to offer, being an activity or crescent investment, not only making the best of the the climate and natural resources, but also all its History, Traditions and Patrimony.

Over the last years there has been a wider segmentation in the nature, nautical and health tourism, as well as cultural and religious touristic circuits, where the Religious Tourism plays a strategic role. In the frame of the touristic resorts segment, it is assumed as a priority the usage of the existing units in the residential tourism;

The natural, landscape and cultural resources have been enriched as a product, and there has been a promotion of the activities related with these resources.

The sun and the sea have also been, more valued, improving the conditions of the resources, equipment, services and the landscape frame of the main clusters, in a way they can be integrated with other complementary offers that give a better offer-value,

This is a major product in volume in Europe, being Germany and the UK its main demanders, and the seasonality of some destinations is focused on the high season (85%). In Europe, the biggest clients for sun and sea tourism are Germany, the UK, Scandinavia, Russia, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Austria (75% of the European market).

Summarizing, the high number of quality beaches, with Blue Flags; the beauty of the beaches, the white sand; the number of hours of sun during all year; the recognition of Algarve as a destination for the sun and the sea; the hospitality and safety make Portugal a jewel in the European Tourism, that only now starts to be properly expanded and profited.

Short-stays in the City

The short-stays in the city are an important boost for the trips in Europe, as a result for the preference by short and frequent trips, as well as the proliferation of the low-cost travels.

The annual growth of 2 to 3% over the last decade should be reinforced to 5 to 6% over the next years.

In Lisbon and Porto we observed a much higher increase in this type of tourism/stays, what relates directly to the possibility of apartment rentals as an alternative to the conventional Hotels.

The main markets that demand short-stays in Europe are Germany, the UK, Scandinavia, Spain, the Netherlands, Russia, Italy and France (71% of the European market). Some of the competition factors in Portugal (Lisbon and Porto) for these products have been identified as:

• The good accessibility and safety;
• Preservation of the patrimony, in the design of the historical neighbourhoods, in the monument decorative elements, in the museum collections, in the gastronomy, in the music, and in the avant-garde of the contemporary trends;
• Diversity and variety of the short distance visits, which include natural and heritage protected areas;
• Hospitality and tolerance of the locals;
• The bright and warm weather of Lisbon;
• The recognition and international projection of Lisbon as a short-stay destination.

Religious Tourism

One of the endeavours over the last years was to improve the cultural and religious circuits segmenting them to generalist and thematic, as well as separate and individualize the Religious ones.

By individualizing the Religious Tourism, giving it a strategic role, we are simultaneously valuing the visit to buildings and/or religious places motivated by the will of discovery of these spaces in a cultural perspective and, overall, the cult pilgrimages such as Fátima, the Portuguese Santiago Central Trail, and the Jewish Quarter.

In the other thematic are included the several market niches, which have individualize and are closely related to regional patrimony, giving value to the existent spoils, classified by UNESCO, artistic patrimony, military, scientific, industrial, etc.

These cultural and religious circuits have been affected by the international crisis. However, there are indicators of recovery. It is a resistant product, with a growth annual perspective of 4% for the next years.

The main markets that demand religious and cultural circuits in Europe are France, Italy, Scandinavia, Germany, Russia, the UK and Spain (62% of the European market), which are strategically relevant markets in the development of a product in Portugal, such as it occurs in other countries outside Europe (Brazil and USA), and also Eastern Europe countries.

In this segment we give special attention to the Patromony and the religious trails as Braga (Bom Jesus de Braga, Sameiro, São Bento da Porta Aberta), Guimarães (Santuário de Nossa Senhora da Penha), Porto, Lisbon, the Jewish quarters; Fátima, a cult pilgrimage place; the Popular Culture and the authentic traditions; the short-distance cultural and landscape variety; the variety and quality of rural accommodation; and the recognized hospitality of the Portuguese people.

Business Tourism 

Portugal, and in particular Lisbon, holds a highlight position in the international associative type meetings (Portugal is the nr.10 world’s destination and Lisbon the nr.10 city in Europe). The increase that has ben noticed is in the number of meetings and not by the total number of participants.

The main demanding markets in business tourism in Europe are, in the corporate market, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, the Benelux and Scandinavia. Outside Europe, the USA market is also of strategic importance for the development of this product, such as Brazil.

Algarve as a golf destination

Although representing a relative small dimension in the market, it is important to highlight the tourist average spending the contribution to minimize the effects of seasonality, and the capacity to increase the global image value of the destination. Over the last decade the re has been an annual increase of 12 to 15%, value that can maintain at 10% in the near future.

Some of the distinguished aspects of Algarve as a Golf destination:

• All-year-round sport;
• Different golf courses and with distinct levels of difficulty;
• Signature golf courses (Robert Trent Jones Jr., Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Arthur Hills, Nick Faldo e S. Ballesteros) and of high quality;
• Concentration zones of high quality golf courses;
• Competition golf courses, part of the PGA circuit;
• Algarve and Lisbon were elected by IAGTO as Golf Destination of the Year a Golf Resort of the Year (2006, 2007 e 2009).

Nature Tourism

Another area which has been a target for high demand and investment is the Nature Tourism. A nature tourist seeks tranquillity, calm and authenticity provided by the rural tourism and participates in multiple activities in the destination, such as eco-resorts, agro-tourism, and other activities of cultural or sport types. As market niches we highlight the walking, bicycle of horse-ride treks, and also bird watching. We anticipate for this product and annual increase of 5% for the next years.

The following competitive factors for this product in Portugal have been identified:

• 90% of the territory is considered rural, and 23% of the Portuguese territory is composed by Protected Areas and “Rede Natura 2000”, what reveals strong values of nature and biodiversity in fauna, flora, and the quality of the landscape and environment;
• Variety and quality of landscapes and high diversity of natural habitats, located at short distance, and beyond the forest and mountain classified habitat zones, rivers, cliffs, islands, cereal plains, lagoons, etc.;
• Qualifying elements of the destination – the Azores archipelago is practically unexplored, in Gerês the lusitano and garrano horse breeds, sea-life observation, bird diversity, “laurissilva” forest in Madeira, the landscapes of Sintra and Douro, classified as world natural heritage by UNESCO, Azores and Madeira Biosphere Reserves, and zones of high natural value;
• Variety of products and entertainment activities, including hunting, wine-tasting, gastronomy, and other historical and patrimonial high-quality and close-distance activities.

Nautical Tourism

Nautical Tourism, very susceptible to economical fluctuations, has stagnated, specially recreational nautical activities. It has increased at a rate of 0,5% over the last years, quite below the 9% seen in between 2000 and 2005, being expected a future growth of 3 to 4% per year.

The main features regarding nautical tourism in Portugal:

• Particularly interesting coastline, due to its diversity and natural value, landscape and cultural;
• 800 Km of coast in the mainland and diverse islands able to sustain surfing activities 365 days a year;
• Ericeira, while second world reserve in Peniche, stage of one of the most important surf events in the world;
• Nazaré, with a world record of big waves (tow-in);
• Figueira da Foz with the longest (straight) wave in the European continent;
• Guincho, with an excellent set of wind and waves for the practice of kitesurf;
• The bay of Cascais and Lagos, with one of the best regatta fields in the world;
• Natural conditions for the practice of diving.

Residential Tourism Projects 

The residential tourism, seriously affected by the current economical situation, has sustained, however, the interest from the Europeans for the purchase of house or to enjoy retirement abroad. It is estimated the trade of 100.000 units per year in the South of Europe. This product benefits from the added value of complementary activities such as golf, beach and gastronomy offer.

Portugal offers a series of competitive advantages in what concerns Residential Tourism:

• Wide offer of quality and complementary services, especially in Algarve;
• Some high quality offer in the area around Lisbon;
• Destination with good climate all year-round;
• Portugal is part of the 10 world most wanted destination list for purchasing a house abroad (“Prime Location, October 2011”);
• Special Regime of the Activity of Investment in the national territory (Golden Visa);
• Safety.

Health Tourism 

Over the last years, a new type of tourism has been in development in Portugal, the Health Tourism, making the best of the climacteric and socio-economical conditions, due to large groups investment in infrastructures dedicated to the recover, rehabilitation, elderly care and certain type of clinical treatments.

The main markets for this health tourism in Europe are Germany, Belgium, Italy, Austria, Switzerland the UK, Scandinavia and Spain (81% of the European market), which are markets of strategic relevance in the development of this product in Portugal, side by side with the Netherlands, France and the USA, and also the Portuguese language countries.

Considering the main characteristics of the worldwide supply and demand, especially in the European space, the following factors of competition have been identified for Portugal:

• National Health Care System of internationally recognized quality, placing Portugal in 12th position in the world index of Healthcare Systems by the World Health Organization;
• Skilled professionals with international experience and few communication barriers towards the main demand markets;
• Existence of Hospital Units recognized international systems and standards, such as the Joint Commission International;
• Abundance of thermal resorts and of great hydro-geological richness, mostly in the North and Centre;
• Spa brands (ex. Angsana Spa, Banyan Tree, ESPA Spa, la prairie Spa e Six Senses Spa), internationally recognized and operating in hotel units of reference in the country;
• Extensive coastline with Atlantic waters, which are appropriate for the practice of thalassotherapy;
• Stable and pleasant climacteric conditions throughout the year, which favour the recovery, having a therapeutic effect in many pathologies.

Gastronomy and Wines

Gastronomy and wine have become a niche tourism product. However, most tourists considers the gastronomy when planning and organizing the trip, being more and more a key-factor. This product has observed an annual growth of 5 to 8% since the year 2000, values which can be expected to raise to 8 to 10% over the next years.

In this are, we highlight:

• The variety and richness of the national gastronomy, classified as an immaterial part of the Portuguese cultural patrimony;
• The quality and diversity of the wines, some exclusive from Portugal (Porto and Madeira);
• The very appreciated traditional and “conventual” (monastery) sweets;
• The quality of the fish and shellfish;
• The increasing qualification of the national chefs;
• The existence of relevant brands (“cataplana”, pastel de nata/custard pie, “the best fish in the world”, Porto and Madeira wines, Portuguese chefs).