Effects of the Pandemic on Urban Tourism in the City of Porto

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of secondary quantitative data on the impact of the pandemic on one of the most relevant urban tourism destinations in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. This in-depth study of the official tourism statistics yielded by Porto Convention and Visitors Bureau is justified given the fact that Porto witnessed a huge increase in the number of tourists before the pandemic. Hence, the aim of the paper is to analyse the effects of the pandemic in the socioeconomic sustainability of tourism in this destination. The results of the research highlight the sudden drop in tourist activity driven by the constraints derived from the pandemic in Porto. In addition, we will analyse the first signs of recovery that were felt in the tourist industry of Porto, looking at how they may influence the immediate future of this activity. In fact, according to the Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), tourism, during 2021, in Portugal, despite registering a notable growth compared to 2020, was still below 2019.