The travel and tourism industry in Portugal Tourism is set to record its best-ever performance this year, surpassing the 2019 peaks, says report by WTTC.

The year 2023 has been an excellent year for the travel and tourism industry of Portugal and the latest Economic Impact Research data from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) shows that by the time this year comes to a close, the country’s tourism industry will have likely exceeded its 2019 peak.

According to a press statement by WTTC, Portugal’s tourism industry will contribute about EUR 40.4 billion to the economy in 2023. By contrast, at its height in 2019, Portugal’s tourism economy generated about EUR 40.1 billion.

WTTC says that job creation within Portugal’s tourism industry is also barrelling along. It forecasts that about 30,000 jobs will have been created this year, which is about 68,000 short of 2019 employment levels within the country’s tourism industry. In total, the industry is expected to employ about 950,000 people in Portugal this year.

The WTTC statement adds that it has been a steady few years of dogged growth for the travel industry in Portugal. Last year, the sector’s GDP contribution grew by a whopping 61.6 pc to reach nearly EUR 38 billion. That figure amounted to about 15.8 pc of the country’s economy.

Last year also saw important steps forward in Portugal’s travel industry’s job growth, with some 83,000 new jobs added to reach 921,000 jobs in total. The latest reports from the global tourism body show that the sector has now recovered to more than 90 pc of the pre-pandemic level of jobs.

The flow of international tourists to Portugal has also recovered significantly, with Spain in the lead as a source of international visitors for Portugal at 16 pc, says WTTC.

It is followed by France at 12 pc, UK at 11 pc and Germany and US, both at 8 pc. International visitor spending overall in Portugal for 2022 contributed EUR 21.7 billion to the country’s economy, representing a year-on-year growth of 80.4 pc. The spending last year was also only 7.7 pc below 2019 peaks, says WTTC.

“The travel and tourism sector in Portugal is recovering strongly with high visitor demand. The future for the sector is very optimistic. By the end of this year, the sector’s contribution will surpass 2019 levels, and over the next decade, growth will outstrip the national GDP and create 248,000 new jobs, representing one in four jobs,” says Julia Simpson, WTTC president and CEO.

The global tourism body is forecasting even more good news in the coming years for Portugal. The country’s tourism-related GDP contribution may increase in 2033 to EUR 56.4 billion or 21.1 pc of Portuguese GDP.  In addition, more than 1.2 million people will likely be employed by Portugal’s tourism industry across the country,  which would amount to about one in four people working in the sector.