The Tourism Ministry in Portugal has stressed the importance of British Tourism for Portugal. Many people from England visit Portugal yearly due to its beauty and scenic places.

British Tourism: An Important Industry

Pedro Machado, the Portuguese Secretary of State for Tourism has laid down the importance of British tourists for the country. He expressed his views during the London World Travel Market (WTM). The British market represents around 20 percent of international tourism within Portugal. 112 companies represent Portugal during the tourist season. These companies stand as the face of Portugal in front of other international tourists.

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The Portuguese Secretary of State for Tourism has expressed his concern about these companies. He believes that the Government of Portugal itself should be the face of the tourism industry. He stated:

These companies represent the entire national territory. Portugal no longer presents itself as just the Algarve, Lisbon, or Madeira, but as a complete and diverse tourist destination.

Pedro believes that Portugal can be the best tourist destination in the world. But for that to happen, the Government should come in front and represent themselves instead of other companies. Pedro knows the value of places like the Azores, Alentejo, Porto, and many more. The United Kingdom looks at Portugal with much greater diversity and in a different way than other countries. He believes:

The presence of the statement ‘Portugal is Art’ means that we are gastronomy, nature, but also art, wine tourism, literature, industrial tourism. We are, deep down, opening up about what our value propositions are for a country that is more modern, more competitive, and can perfectly respond to various motivations, and various expectations.

More Flights From England To Portugal

Pedro Machado is here to make changes that will benefit the tourism industry of Portugal. He has agreed with Jet2 company to increase the direct flights from England to Porto. The airline company will focus on improving its strength in Porto and Algarve in the future. The ministry is further thinking of increasing its strength in Madeira as well. This is good news for British investors as they will be looking to invest in Portugal in the future. The ministry stated:

We can definitely surpass the threshold of 10 million overnight stays in 2024, after, in 2023, we surpassed 9 million overnight stays and reached close to 4 million guests.

The British market will be beneficial in the future for Portugal. It is expected that a lot of investments will come into the country. Another main factor for the tourism industry is security. Portugal needs to provide a safe and secure environment for the tourists to let them feel safe. This measure should not only be taken for British tourists but for everyone else who intends to visit the country. Pedro reported about the British market in the following words:

A market with 70 million people can always influence other issuing markets. We are talking about one of the most powerful financial markets in the world, immense geographies intersect here, which means that Portugal’s image, which is frankly positive, can expand exponentially.

British Market Represents 20% International Tourism

The British market contributes 20% of the international tourists to Portugal every year. Pedro believes that the Portuguese market has a lot of potential to be the best. The presence of the tourism ministry was not reflected in terms of tourism as it should have. Pedro confirms that this will change in the future. He stated:

We have seen Porto, the Centre, the Azores and the Alentejo grow, which means that today there is a more equitable distribution of what is, on the one hand, the suitability for the UK market from the point of view of our companies, but also, and this is the justification for being here, for the United Kingdom to look at Portugal in a different way, as more global, broader and with greater diversity.

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