“Portugal is positioned as the eighth tourist destination in the Top 10 preferred destinations by Europeans, according to data from January and February of this year, surpassing the Netherlands, Sweden and Ireland. The United Kingdom and Spain appear in first and second place, respectively, and the United States is the only non-European country to be included in the ranking”, points out the study and reported by Publituris.

The study by the Mastercard Economic Institute concluded that both leisure and business travel have already recovered and are growing above last year's, and, in the case of business travel, the recovery "happened, above all, from the second half of 2022 and until the beginning of 2023, when they surpassed leisure flights, in regions that favoured the return to the “office””.

Leisure travel, on the other hand, maintained “a robust growth trajectory, with an increase of 25% compared to the previous year”, adds the study, which gathers information on the global state of travel and takes into account changes in economic scenarios and the growing consumer demand.

Among the main conclusions of this study is also the fact that tourists continue to prioritise experiences, even registering a “growth in demand for more exclusive experiences”.

In Portugal and according to the Mastercard Economic Institute, the demand for experiences more than doubled (151.6%) compared to 2019 and increased by 45.3% comparing March 2023 with the previous year, in a trend contrary to spending on the purchase of goods, which registered a lower growth, of 68% compared to 2019 and 35% year-on-year.