Tourism industry, travel trends, and visitor statistics for Portugal.
Portugal's Autoridade da Concorrência approved the acquisition of the five-star Tróia Design Hotel and its casino by Flecha Lux, an Arrow group company that already runs marinas, ferries and golf on the peninsula. No price was disclosed and no conditions were imposed.
Overnight stays by foreign visitors fell 0.6% year on year in June, the first decline since October, though domestic travel and rising room rates kept revenue growing.
Groupe Barrière, the French gaming and hospitality group, took over the Casino da Póvoa from Estoril-Sol on 1 May and is planning a two-to-three-year makeover of the 1930s building, new dining and live shows, while keeping about 220 staff. It is also preparing a hotel-and-residential project in Lisb
Portugal flies the Blue Flag over nearly 400 beaches this summer, with the Algarve alone gaining seven for a total of 92. But with hoteliers braced for softer demand and travellers booking later than ever, the season's smart money watches prices as closely as the tide tables.
On 12 August, totality will be visible in Portugal only from a sliver of the Montesinho Natural Park near Bragança, for about 26 seconds — the country's first total solar eclipse since 1912. Hotels across the district have already sold out as astro-tourists descend.
Culture Minister Margarida Balseiro Lopes says the Acesso 52 free-museum-days scheme 'is not proving effective' and will be overhauled. Only about 4% of residents used it, at an estimated €10 million cost, and Brussels has opened an infringement case over its treatment of visitors from other EU stat
Tourist overnight stays in the Azores fell 3.8% in June, a ninth consecutive monthly decline, as local short-term rentals and rural tourism emptied out while hotels held on - and the Ponta Delgada Chamber of Commerce demanded an urgent response on air access and promotion.
