Turismo de Portugal will resume, at the end of May, promotional activities in China and, according to Lídia Monteiro, member of the Board of Directors of Turismo de Portugal, a roadshow is already planned to take place in four cities in China and count on the participation of around 120 Chinese tourism companies.
“We are going to start a practice that we already had before the pandemic. We did, annually, a roadshow through the different most relevant cities from the point of view of potential tourist flows to Portugal, with Portuguese companies, and that is what we are going to resume”, said the person responsible to journalists, on the sidelines of the ceremony that marked the 100th anniversary of first flight between Portugal and China, and in which Beijing Capital Airlines announced an increase in weekly frequencies between the two countries.
According to the person responsible, this roadshow has a commercial nature and will start in Macau, then passing through Guangzhou (Guangzhou) and Beijing, while the closing will take place in Shanghai, where Turismo de Portugal will also participate in ITB Shanghai with a stand Portuguese.
“We are going to have a roadshow through four Chinese cities. We will start in Macau, go to Guangzhou (Guangzhou), Beijing and end in Shanghai, because at the end of the roadshow, we will still be present – because it coincides with the date of ITB Shanghai – at this fair, where we will have a stand from Portugal, where Portuguese companies will also be present”, explained Lídia Monteiro.
The member of the Board of Directors of Tourism of Portugal said that the objective of this roadshow is “to put Portuguese companies directly in contact with potential customers who, then, naturally, provide them with business in China”.
Registration for the event is currently underway and Lídia Monteiro says that there is “a great interest in Portugal among Chinese operators”, which is why the person responsible estimates that the average of 120 Chinese companies expected at the roadshow could even be exceeded by some cities.
The initiative should also include the participation of around 20 national companies, with Lídia Monteiro explaining that the “complex logistics” of these actions prevent the participation of a greater number of Portuguese companies.
Despite confessing a “very positive expectation” for these actions in Chinese territory, Lídia Monteiro prefers, for now, not to advance targets regarding the number of Chinese tourists that will be possible to attract, especially because the pandemic has caused an interruption in the flow of Chinese tourists in Portugal, even though this market is already recovering.
“We don’t want to set goals for now, for this year, because there was a very long period of people not being able to travel and what we feel is that, right in the year it opened, we had a very big interest and, it wasn’t just the interest, there was also a realization”, said the person in charge.
During her speech at the ceremony that marked the 100th anniversary of the first flight between Portugal and China, and during which an increase in Beijing Capital Airlines’ air connections between the two countries was also announced, Lídia Monteiro indicated that the Chinese market is “ strategic” for Portugal.
According to the member of the Portuguese Tourism Board, between 2014 and 2019, this market more than tripled in Portugal, in growth that was only interrupted with the pandemic but which, with the end of COVID-19, is already showing a “strong recovery”.
“We had 170 thousand Chinese guests last year”, added Lídia Monteiro, explaining that, in 2022, the Chinese market showed growth of more than 300% in Portugal, rising again by 150% last year
Therefore, expectations regarding the performance of this market in Portugal are positive, with Lídia Monteiro also highlighting that “Beijing Capital Airlines has been a key partner” for the good performance that the Chinese market has shown in Portugal.
Tags: Beijing Capital Airlines operates additional weekly flights Portugal China
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