Airlines

You Can’t Skip Portugal

Some 30 suppliers of travel product and services to Portugal were on hand in Toronto yesterday (Oct. 19) to meet with a large group of Canadian travel agents and tour operators and learn more about a destination that could well be a hot one this winter.

Portugal’s Minister of Tourism, Ana Mendes Godinho was on hand for the event, telling her audience that air capacity – supplied by Air Transat, Air Canada, TAP Air Portugal and SATA – has double out of Canada providing agents with lots of opportunities to sell the destination.

And she pointed to additional services and capacity that each of those carriers have or will introduce.
Mendes Godinho also told the Toronto crowd: “I think you [and your clients] will be completely surprised by the country that discovered the new world 500 years ago.”

Certainly times are good for Portugal tourism, with receipts up by 20% and visitors up by 10%, with the Mendes Godinho pointing to the authenticity of Portugal’s tourism products and the fact that the destination – through significant investment and product development – has spread its tourism offering throughout the country.

Watch for more on Portugal in an upcoming issue of Canadian Travel Press.