“There has not been a slowdown in demand in the wake of Brexit,” Ana Mendes Godinho told Lusa News Agency, during a visit to the UK for meetings with tour companies, representatives of airlines and travel agency associations.
Godinho said that there is a “big question mark” over the impact of future negotiations on the UK’s relationship with the EU and the policies that are implemented. However, she stressed the need to maintain “serenity” and monitor the market “in permanent dialogue with operators”, who she said continue to have a “positive outlook”. British nationals, she argued, “will always take holidays”.
In the first four months of this year, the number of UK-based tourists in Portugal was up 19.2 percent on the same period of last year, when it had already been up 8.7 percent on 2014, figures show. In part, that resulted from an increase in the number of flights to Portugal from various UK airports.
As part of her visit, Godinho was consulting foreign partners about Portugal’s Tourism Strategy 2027, which according to a statement issued on Thursday aims “to identify priorities and options and promote the integration of sector policies that influence tourism and assure stability in public policies on tourism to 2027.”
The Algarve, Madeira and Lisbon continue to be the most popular regions among foreign tourists, but tour operators are now seeking more information about others that they know less well.
In the Algarve, the authorities are actively seeking to combat seasonality by exploiting the region as a winter destination, with cultural events and nature tourism, including walking and cycling. TPN/Lusa