The Portugal Real Estate Summit once again reflected the continued interest of international investors in the Portuguese property market.
As Duarte Morais Santos of CBRE underlined, 2025 is set to become yet another record year, with lodging revenues surpassing €6.7 billion, a remarkable +10.6% year-on-year increase and almost double the 2014 level. Over the last decade, the sector has shown not only resilience but also growing profitability, attracting investors eager to ride the country’s tourism wave.
Paula Sequeira of Savills complemented this view by stressing the fundamentals: in just ten years, the total number of guests in Portugal has soared from 12 million to more than 31 million, with international visitors growing by +105%. Performance metrics followed suit—ADR up 35%, RevPAR up 41%—while occupancy has consistently hovered in the mid-60s. “These are the kind of figures that explain why Portugal has moved to the top tier of European hotel investment destinations,” she noted, referencing CBRE’s survey that now ranks Portugal among the most attractive markets for global capital.
Both experts pointed out that growth has not been confined to Lisbon and Porto. Regions such as the Azores and Madeira posted income growth of +97% and +87% between 2019 and 2024, proving that new destinations are unlocking investment opportunities. Meanwhile, hotel investment volumes have averaged €454 million per year over the last decade, with more than 80% directed to upscale and luxury assets, consolidating Portugal’s move upmarket.
Looking ahead, the CBRE and Savills representatives agreed that challenges remain—airport capacity, licensing delays, and the need to balance development with community impact—but the outlook is clear: Portugal is no longer a “hidden gem” but a consolidated global tourism market. “The golden marriage of tourism and real estate is not ending,” Sequeira concluded, “it is simply entering a new era.”
Tourism and Real Estate: Investors Roundtable
Moderated by Richard Betts, the roundtable that followed brought together five leading investors and operators to discuss the future of Portuguese tourism and its deep ties with real estate. From the outset, there was consensus that Portugal has moved from a peripheral player to a prime destination for capital and innovation—but the debate quickly showed the nuances of how to sustain growth without falling into the traps of over-tourism or overheated pricing.
Elizabeth Rothfield, Founding Partner & CEO of Explorer Investments, set the scene by recalling how her firm entered hospitality “almost by accident” 13 years ago, taking over distressed assets from banks. Since then, Explorer has become the fourth-largest hotel manager in Portugal by number of units, spearheading a repositioning of the sector. She noted that “Portugal was once labelled a pig economy, but macroeconomic discipline, combined with programs like Golden Visa and non-dom regimes, gave the country outsized visibility.” The real challenge now, she argued, is continuing to upgrade quality and services, shifting from the “cheap and cheerful” Algarve model towards luxury and experience-based hospitality.
Picking up on this point, José Roquette, Chief Development Officer at Pestana, underlined that the group now operates 110 hotels across 16 countries with a staff of 5,000. “After a decade of intense growth and coming out of COVID stronger, we are ready for the next stage,” he said. Pestana’s strategy focuses on major European cities and the US, with branded residences increasingly part of the mix. For Roquette, Portugal’s capital cities still have room to grow: “Lisbon and Porto need to move from the Europa League to the Champions League. We are still well behind the top capitals.” Yet he also sounded a note of caution: “There is an elephant in the room called over-tourism—we cannot ignore its impact.”
Daniel von Barloewen, SVP Global Mixed-Use Development at Accor One Living, highlighted Portugal’s fit with global branded living trends. He clarified a frequent misconception: “A true branded residence is owned real estate, branded, operated, and serviced to the standards of a hospitality company. That’s very different from serviced apartments.” According to him, demand is being driven by lifestyle, community, and hassle-free ownership—“living in your own hotel suite.” With 180 branded residence projects in the pipeline, Accor sees Portugal as fertile ground, provided regulation and infrastructure keep pace.
John Calvao, Partner at Arrow Global, stressed scale and ecosystem development. Managing €120 billion across Europe and employing 3,000 people in Portugal, Arrow focuses not on “one-off hotels” but on building destinations. “In Vilamoura, Palmares, Tróia—we are effectively creating small cities, with schools, hospitals, golf courses, housing, and hotels. That’s what builds long-term value,” he explained. He also pointed to diversification: Arrow invests in affordable housing, student housing, and senior living. “Portugal is small, so we have to go wide. But the opportunity is to sell not just homes, but destinations and lifestyles.”
Javier Arús, Senior Partner at Azora, countered Roquette’s Champions League analogy with a smile: “I would say Portugal is already playing in the Champions League in terms of attractiveness. There is no risk premium here compared with other European markets.” What makes Portugal stand out, he argued, is stability—“in tax, in labor law, in institutions. Investors know where they stand.” That said, he called for faster licensing and cheaper construction costs, noting that “Lisbon is among the most expensive cities to transform in relative terms.”
The discussion turned inevitably to the question of over-tourism. Roquette warned that regions like the Algarve and Madeira need stronger planning and that touristic taxes should be clearly reinvested in community projects. Von Barloewen added that broader infrastructure—schools, healthcare, regulation of short-term rentals—was key to preventing saturation. Drawing on examples from Dubai and Barcelona, he stressed the importance of “tight but confidence-building regulation.” Calvao, however, pushed back: “We’re worried about the wrong problem. Lisbon Airport is full, Faro is full—you can’t even bring in more visitors without fixing infrastructure first. Over-tourism is not our immediate challenge.” Arús brought numbers: while travel demand has grown nearly 5% annually, hotel supply in the Mediterranean has expanded less than 1%. “The pressure comes from alternative lodging, not hotels,” he argued, highlighting that in Madrid only 9% of Airbnb listings are licensed. Rothfield agreed that infrastructure—from airports to passport control—must be addressed, but she also pointed to the vast untapped potential of underexplored regions like the Douro or Portugal’s interior.
When it came to opportunities, the panel converged on hospitality and repositioning. Rothfield emphasized luxury upgrades and boutique concepts: “We like getting our hands dirty with CapEx. Paybacks are quick and profitable.” Her firm’s Octant Hotels are an example of smaller assets scaled up into a brand. Roquette confirmed Pestana’s continued commitment to hotels and branded residences, though warning that “entry pricing is becoming challenging—newcomers are sometimes overpaying.” Calvao broadened the scope, pointing to student and senior living as sectors with strong fundamentals. Arús reaffirmed long-term confidence: “Tourism is 20% of Portugal’s GDP. You cannot put this industry at risk. Fundamentals are very solid.”
In closing, the mood was unmistakably bullish. All panelists agreed Portugal remains a buy market for tourism-related real estate. The consensus was that while risks around infrastructure and community integration must be managed, the fundamentals—stability, quality of life, macro discipline, and rising global profile—make Portugal one of Europe’s most attractive investment destinations.