One year after the first edition, Miguel Júdice, chairman of the organizing committee of this 2nd Shopping Tourism & Economy Summit Lisbon, taking place at the Pestana Palace Hotel on 10 December, confirms "It's time to rethink the strategic drivers of our tourism, which should also include focusing on high value-added segments that have a very positive impact on our economy without having such heavy environmental and social footprints."

The conference is organized in several panels, which will be attended by representatives of various entities, such as Turismo de Portugal, the Tourism Association of Lisbon, the Hotel Association of Portugal or the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and from companies like TAP, Santander, Samsung Iberia, Global Blue or Union Pay International.

The future of tourism in cities will be debated by city councillors in Porto and Barcelona, ??while tourism challenges and the SDGs will be presented by representatives of BSCD - Business Council for Sustainable Development and UN Global Compact Network Portugal, in addition to the contribution from Turismo de Portugal.

For the organization, this is the time to analyze the need for transition from the current tourism model, adapting to the new world market, characterized by globalization, the emergence of tourist groups from regions of the world with robust economies, young demography, interest in culture, gastronomy, shopping and new experiences, allowing to combat the seasonality of tourism. Long-distance tourism from countries such as the US, Brazil, China and other Asian countries, among others, whose average value spent on their trips to Portugal, is much higher than traditional tourism. By 2020, more than 200 million Chinese tourists, 50 million Indians and 29 million South Koreans will travel abroad, spending as much as $430 billion.

The latest data point to a 36 percent increase in extra-community tourist spending. It is crucial to define the strategy that Portugal should follow to capture a percentage of these important tourists.

On the other hand, the huge impact of technology, which increasingly brings destinations and travellers closer, as well as environmental sustainability and the perception of local public regarding the arrival of visitors, will be topics for debate.

This summit is the only forum that looks at the importance of attracting quality tourists to promote shopping tourism that is a driving force for economic and social growth across the board, thanks to the participation of the various sectors: tourism, trade, transport, banking and means of payment, technology, alongside public entities.