Tourism income grows twice as much as the number of tourists
Tourism income grows twice as fast as the number of tourists visiting Portugal. Tourism has become the second most powerful driver of the 2017 economy.
The number of tourists is growing by the day, and income is growing at an even more accelerated pace: invoicing from visitors is growing approximately twice the rhythm. Until November, foreign guests brought 3.2 billion euros to Portugal.
The number of tourists has increased almost 8% between January and February of last year, in comparison to 2016. As for expenses from visitors during that period, they increased around 17%. And according to the Portuguese newspaper Dinheiro Vivo, the amount of money related to touristic activities rocketed almost 20%.
With this acceleration, tourism became the second largest driver of the Portuguese economy in 2017. The weight of the expansion of exports, 28%, is only surpassed by the metalworking, machine, car and chemistry industries together, which give a 33% contribution, according to a study by the Economy ministry.
“Our purpose is not to make tourism grow in numbers and in places where there is a high touristic intensity, but to do exactly the opposite of that. The plan is to assure that tourism grows more in value than in number, and that is already happening”, stated the Economy minister Caldeira Cabral to Dinheiro Vivo. He also stated he believes the Portuguese Tourism model is “sustainable”.
