The weight of LGBT+ tourism in Portugal's hotel industry

For several years Portugal has ranked among the safest destinations in the world for LGBT+ travellers. For hotel managers, though, the useful question is not “are we a friendly destination?” but “how much does this segment weigh in my business, and what can I do about it?”

The honest answer is that there is no official statistic on how many LGBT+ guests stay in Portuguese hotels. Statistics Portugal (INE) does not collect that data, and rightly so. What does exist are market estimates, international rankings and a handful of Portuguese academic studies. Together they give a reasonable picture, as long as they are read with care.

For scale: in 2025, tourist accommodation in Portugal recorded 32.5 million guests and 82.1 million overnight stays, according to preliminary INE data, with international guests accounting for around 69% of overnight stays. The 2025 overview published by Turismo de Portugal reports €7,133.2 million in total accommodation revenue. Even a small share of that volume matters.

How much the LGBT+ travel market is worth

The most widely cited estimate comes from the consultancy Out Now: in 2018, annual spending on travel and tourism by LGBT+ people exceeded US$218 billion, including accommodation, dining and sightseeing. The largest source markets were the USA, Brazil, Japan, Germany and the UK.

It is worth looking at the markets that matter most for Portugal. According to the same source, LGBT+ residents of these countries spent, per year:

Source: Out Now / LGBT2030, via LaingBuisson

Three of these six are also key markets for Portuguese tourism: in 2025 the United Kingdom was the leading source market, with 17.7% of international overnight stays.

Two caveats. First, these figures are almost a decade old and were produced by a consultancy specialising in the segment, using online panels, not by a statistics office. Second, the idea that LGBT+ tourists always spend more than average is not settled: a 2024 study of Palma de Mallorca even found slightly lower spending than among other tourists, albeit with a small sample (150 responses).

Portugal on the LGBT+ map

In the rankings LGBT+ travellers actually consult, Portugal remains well placed, but with signs of slippage worth watching.

The Rainbow Map shows a downward trend: Portugal was 10th in 2024, 11th in 2025 and 12th in 2026, with ILGA Europe flagging recent legislative proposals on gender identity as a concern. For travellers, the Spartacus index carries more weight, because it is designed for people who travel and is promoted in partnership with Booking.com.

On the demand side, figures specific to Portugal come mainly from Variações, the Portuguese LGBTI+ Trade and Tourism Association. It has estimated more than two million LGBTI visitors a year, and the BTL trade fair presented the segment as 8% of tourism spending. These are estimates from an organisation that promotes the segment, without a detailed published methodology; they work as an order of magnitude, not as official data.

Turismo de Portugal itself adopted the goal in its Tourism Strategy 2027, which includes promoting Portugal as an LGBTI destination. And Lisbon hosted EuroPride 2025, from 14 to 22 June, the first time in Portugal. So far I have not found a public report on the event’s visitor numbers or economic impact.

There is an important geographical nuance. According to Variações itself, outside Lisbon Portugal is not yet seen as a reference destination for the segment. A study of the North of Portugal found that the local community is seen as hospitable, but that some reluctance and discrimination persist regarding sexual orientation and gender identity.

Who this guest is, and what it changes in revenue management

The strongest data point is not spending, it is safety. In a 2024 Booking.com survey, 59% of LGBT+ travellers said they had experienced discrimination while travelling, rising to 63% among those who are open about their identity. In its 2021 survey, 65% said they had to weigh their safety when choosing a destination. So the choice starts with the destination and only then reaches the hotel, and that is where Portugal’s position in the rankings works in favour of those already here.

On travel frequency, the annual Community Marketing & Insights study reported an average of 3.1 leisure trips and 1.5 business trips a year among LGBT+ participants in the USA. In Lisbon, an exploratory study from the University of Évora described the gay tourists surveyed as well educated, with high incomes and specific consumer behaviour. Both rely on samples recruited through community channels, which tends to overrepresent more active profiles with greater spending power.

In revenue management practice, there are a few readings that seem reasonable to me, more as hypotheses to test against your own data than as rules:

• Events as predictable demand peaks. Arraial Lisboa Pride, Porto Pride, Queer Lisboa or editions such as EuroPride deserve a place in the events calendar with the same discipline as a congress: pricing, minimum length of stay restrictions and pickup tracking.
• Demand signals already in the data. Track aggregate booking volumes around public events and evaluate guest experience through voluntary, privacy-conscious feedback. Do not infer or record an individual guest’s sexual orientation from their booking, room preferences, companions or travel dates.
• Visibility in channels. Distribution matters: the Travel Proud badge appears on the Booking.com listing itself and lets travellers filter for participating properties. It indicates participation in the programme, not an independent guarantee of safety.
• Less seasonality than assumed? Some LGBT+ events take place outside the traditional high season; it is worth checking each region’s calendar before assuming the segment only reinforces summer.

What a hotel can do, credibly

The head of Variações summed up the current challenge as developing the offer, which he considers still scarce for this market. Demand seems to exist; what is often missing is the hotel making it clear that it is ready to welcome it.

1. Train the team before communicating. Booking.com’s Travel Proud training is free for partners and gives access to the badge on the platform; in June 2025, the programme reported 100,000 properties in more than 150 countries and territories. For hotels that also work with specialist operators, joining IGLTA (International LGBTQ+ Travel Association) is another route.
2. Review friction points at arrival and in bookings. Forms that assume “Mr and Mrs”, questions about separate beds or remarks at reception are exactly the uncomfortable situations that surveys describe.
3. Communicate authentically, not only in June. A logo in Pride colours in June with no practice behind it tends to be read as opportunism. It works better to show what exists: trained staff, local partnerships, useful information about the destination.
4. Connect with the local ecosystem. Regional LGBT+ events, associations and businesses provide content, packages and credibility, especially outside Lisbon, where the offer is less visible.

In short: a relevant segment, measured with little precision

The weight of LGBT+ tourism in Portuguese hospitality is real, but hard to quantify rigorously. The available figures come from consultancies and associations within the sector itself, from surveys of volunteer respondents and, in part, from studies that are several years old. Used as an order of magnitude, they help; quoted as settled facts, they mislead.

What seems most solid is this: Portugal has a competitive advantage in perceived safety, which is the LGBT+ traveller’s first filter; that advantage is not guaranteed, as the slide in the Rainbow Map shows; and hotel supply has not yet caught up with the destination’s reputation, especially outside Lisbon. For a hotel, this is an opportunity to stand out at relatively low cost, provided it starts with practice and only then moves to communication.

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