Portugal looking to attract tourists from new markets

Desk Report: Tourism operators aim to "foster the commercial offer of differentiated products for more demanding segments", such as cultural tourism, architecture, gastronomy or wine tourism.

The United States, Canada, China, South Korea, and Turkey are the markets in which the tourism sector intends to invest in the coming years to try to reduce seasonality and boost growth in value.

The main operators in the sector met with the Minister of Economy, Pedro Reis, and the Secretary of State for Tourism, Pedro Machado, to outline the strategy for 2024. At the first meeting of the Strategic Council for Tourism Promotion (CEPT ), they reported the “good recovery of activity after the pandemic” and “pointed to 2024 already surpassing the best numbers of 2019 in all regions of the country”.

The Ministry of Economy added, in a statement, the objective that “external promotion for the coming years will encourage the commercial offer of differentiated products for more demanding segments”, such as cultural tourism, architecture, gastronomy, and wine tourism, among others.

For the Minister of Economy, the strategic importance of the sector for the national economy is “clear”. Pedro Reis defended “tourism with added value, capable of retaining talent, with a strong commitment to a green agenda and its internationalisation”. “We are here to accelerate sustained growth in our economy, investing in strategic sectors such as Tourism”, he adds in the same statement.

The governor also defended “work in partnership and proximity in action”. CEPT is the Government's consultative structure in matters of external tourism promotion and strategic consultation, made up of representatives from Turismo de Portugal, the regional governments of Madeira and the Azores, the private sector through the Confederation of Tourism of Portugal, Regional Entities of Tourism and Regional Tourism Promotion Agencies. The Portugal news.com

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