With Lisbon Airport Nearly Full, the Tourism Confederation Urges Portugal to Chase Spending Rather Than Visitor Numbers
Francisco Calheiros names the US, Canada, Brazil, Poland and Korea as the markets to court, warns of 200-euro fuel surcharges per passenger, and says a 2027 no better than 2026 would still be a great year.
Portugal should stop measuring tourism by the number of visitors and start measuring it by what they spend, the president of the Confederação do Turismo de Portugal (CTP), Francisco Calheiros, says. In an interview with the Lusa news agency ahead of World Tourism Day on Sunday 27 September, he argued that a full Lisbon airport, slowing growth and a costlier world for travellers have ended the era of chasing volume.
"The state of health of tourism is still good. Growth has not been what it was in the past, but records keep being broken," Calheiros said. "From 2009 to 2019, tourists in Portugal doubled. Growth of 100 percent. When we are already talking about millions of tourists, millions of overnight stays, we cannot carry on down this path of growth."
What the latest figures show
The most recent official data bear out both halves of that sentence. Statistics Portugal (INE) reported on 31 August that overnight stays in tourist accommodation rose 1.5 percent year on year to 46.5 million in the period to July, while total revenue rose faster, by 5.3 percent to 4,073.2 million euros. More money from a barely growing number of nights is, in effect, the model Calheiros is asking for.
Asked whether he sided with those who want fewer tourists and more revenue from visitors with greater spending power, or with those who fear tourism may lose its force as an engine of the economy, he answered: "Clearly the first."
The visitors "everyone wants"
His reasons were practical. Lisbon airport, he said, is at "practically full capacity", and growth in tourist numbers has slowed. "I think we have to make a change now. The number of tourists and the number of overnight stays should not be our main priority; our main priority should be creating value," he said.
He named the markets he means: "The United States, Canada, we can add Brazil, Poland, Korea. They are all tourists that everyone wants, because on the one hand they stay more nights and on the other they spend more." Promotion, he agreed, should shift towards more premium segments rather than keep leaning on traditional markets. "From now on, growth must always be in value," he said.
Fuel, wars and the family budget
Calheiros also pointed to costs that the sector has to pass on and that weigh on the decision to travel. More than 90 percent of tourists reach Portugal by air, he noted, and airlines "obviously have to" raise prices when fuel does. "We are sometimes talking about charges of 200 euros extra per passenger because of the cost of fuel. If you think of a family with two children, that is 800 euros. It makes you think twice."
He listed Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East and the recent confrontation between the United States and Iran as reasons for caution, and said that safety has become the first factor in choosing a destination, ahead of price.
A modest target for 2027
His forecast for next year is deliberately unambitious. "If 2027 is the same as 2026, I already think it will be a great tourism year," he said. If Portugal "does not lose tourists and keeps revenue in 2027 the same as in 2026", that would be a good result.
The interview comes as the confederation prepares to change leadership. The candidacy of Bernardo Trindade, who heads the Portuguese Hotel Association (AHP), for the CTP presidency has declared support equivalent to about 60 percent of the confederation's electorate, according to the AHP.
