Portugal could see 6% fewer UK visitors in hard Brexit scenario – study
According to the ETC, if the UK leaves the European Union without any kind of agreement, Portugal is expected to see 5.8% fewer the tourists from that country.
Portugal could see almost 6% fewer visitors from the UK by 2021 if there is a hard ‘Brexit’, according to a study by the European Travel Commission.
According to the ETC, if the UK leaves the European Union without any kind of trade agreement, Portugal is expected to see 5.8% fewer the tourists from that country than it would under existing forecasts that exclude such an effect. The total number of foreign visitors would be reduced by 0.6%.
The percentages are based on the projection that a hard Brexit would reduce the number of UK visitors in 2021 to 2.3 million from the 2.4 million that could otherwise be expected, according to the ETC report.
Still, the drop is lower than that predicted for Spain, which the ETC estimates may lose around 1.3 million visitors, or around 7%.
“Spain is the most affected country in [absolute] number of travellers, while Iceland has the biggest loss in percentage terms,” the report states.
According to the ETC, in the first seven months of 2019 the number of foreign tourists arriving in Portugal was up 8.3% on the same period a year earlier.
The report also highlights the country’s progress in the US market, along with Sweden and Norway.
Spain was this year the European country that grew least in terms of international arrivals.
Topping the list was Montenegro (up 18.1%), followed by Turkey (up 14.7%), Luxembourg (up 10.1%), Lithuania (up 9.3%) and Slovakia (up 9%).
