Tourism in Portugal: What is expected for 2023?

Portugal is present at FITUR, one of the largest Tourism Fairs in the world, which takes place in Madrid until the 22nd of January. The expectation for this year is to repeat the growth of the Portuguese Tourism sector above what was foreseen for 2022.

In terms of revenues from Portuguese tourism, the past year was “the best ever from a revenue point of view”, with an estimated revenue of more than 22 million euros. To this value we can compare the 18.4 billion in 2019 - the last year in which the covid-19 pandemic had no impact on the sector. Luís Araújo, president of Turismo de Portugal, says that the country has recovered ahead of schedule, and that the forecast for 2023 is to continue the growth that occurred in 2022. He believes that we are well positioned, and reinforces the bet on the Spanish market, which is currently the second largest for Portugal in number of guests and the fourth in terms of revenue.

The future strategy involves a lot of “trying to further diversify the core markets” that are fundamental for Portuguese tourism, and one of the key points for growth will be the expansion of air connections.

The resumption of routes that had been lost in 2020 and 2021, the height of the pandemic, has been gradual, and Luís Araújo believes that “growth takes place at all airports”. Although at the moment there is a 'hub' which is Lisbon, and which does the distribution, there are several reasons of interest for other markets and destinations, such as the Algarve, the north and the islands.

The Portuguese representation at FITUR has the seven tourist regions of the country (Porto and North Region, Centre, Alentejo, Algarve, Madeira and Azores) presented in a 900 m2 exhibitor by Turismo de Portugal. This strong presence is very important considering the weight that the Spanish market has in our country's tourism.


Sources: Notícias ao Minuto

20th January 2023

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