Portugal poised to launch 10-year tourism growth strategy

Portugal is poised to launch a 10-year tourism growth strategy which it hopes will catapult it into the top ten of the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Development Index.

 

The destination, which will launch the new Tourism Strategy 2035 at the end of the year, aims for a ‘balanced and cohesive’ development of tourism across Portugal.

 

It currently sits 12th in the WEF’s Travel & Tourism Development Index (TTDI) but aims to leapfrog Canada and Switzerland to make it into the top 10 within the next three years, said Carlos Abade, president of Visit Portugal.

 

The index benchmarks and measures policies allowing sustainable and resilient development of the tourism sector and their contribution to the development of a country. It started in 2022, having evolved from the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), which has been running since 2007.

 

It aims to provide a strategic and holistic overview of a country’s tourism economy, including internal and external enablers of travel and tourism development and their interdependent nature.

 

Portugal’s new strategy will have 12 agendas focused around several key ‘pillars’. The agendas will cover areas such as climate change, training tourism professionals, sustainable mobility, and flight capacity.

 

The key pillars of the strategy include an aim to reinforce the commitment between tourism and local residents; link more tourism to local industry, such as through wine tours; specialise, diversify and invest in source markets by focusing on culture, art and gastronomy; and focus on new technologies such as artificial intelligence.

 

“We want to improve the quality of experience for those visiting Portugal but at the same time improve the quality of life for those who live there,” said Abade.

 

Last year more than 30 million tourists visited Portugal, of which 2.5 million were Brits.

 

In total Portugal achieved 28 billion euros in tourism receipts in 2024, money earned from domestic and international visitors, which had been its target for 2027. Tourist revenue from the UK market was more than 4 billion euros last year.

 

This year to date, UK visitor numbers are up by 0.2% year on year.