There has been a dramatic shift in tourism industry thinking away from 'sun & sea' holidays, towards Portugal's wine, culture and history.
While the Algarve and Portugal Tourism Boards pay lip service to smaller market segments, while concentrating on summertime family holiday promotion, the reality is that tourists are growing up and away from the week’s vacation on the beach and out and about into the country’s vineyards and museums.
Tourism is expected to grow 7% overall this year and the tourist potential of Portugal needs to be promoted internationally to sell the country as a wine tourism destination. In a survey conducted by the IPDT, Tourism Institute, released today, 37% of foreign tourism operators say wine, culture and history now are the best arguments for promoting the country.
António Jorge Costa, President of the IPDT, explained that this outcome largely is the result of work from the wine sectors entrepreneurs, "we can not forget that the sun and sea continue to capture the largest share of tourists who visit Portugal, but these are seasonal visitors."
Another result that stands out in this study is the weight that the history of Portugal carries when overseas tour operators promote Portugal. In 2013, 16 % of respondents said Portugal history was a key part of the attraction to visitors. This was up from 9% the year before. Meanwhile the interest expressed in 'sun & sand' breaks has dropped from 37% last year to 13% currently.
António Costa reckons that a more engaged and aware type of tourist may be arriving as a result of the affects of the crisis, "the fact that Portugal is becoming more dynamic internationally means that tourists want to know more about the history of the country. We are going through a crisis without any major upheaval of social peace, despite the difficulties encountered by the population. Within Portugal we obviously do not think the same way, but those outside compare Portugal with what is happening in Greece and Spain."
Costa also pointed out that 75% of travel industry experts say that the financial crisis has not adversely affected the image of Portugal (55% in 2012). Articles like the recent one in the FT this week which said that Portugal was the ‘surprise hero of the recovery in the euro area’ have helped to build a positive image despite the actual austerity in the country. And that, says Costa, has an impact on the decision of a tourist when choosing their next holiday destination.
In the survey conducted last December, 32% of the travel industry specialists who had visited Portugal said the country was ‘agreeable and special’ and 28% had come for the ‘cities, history and culture.’
