PORTUGAL RISES TO THE 12 PLACE IN THE TOURISM COMPETITIVENESS RANKING

Portugal rose to the 12th place of the World Economic Forum (WEF) ranking, in what concerns the competitiveness in the tourism sector, having achieved the first place in terms of touristic infrastructures, according to a Government statement.

In the note from the office of the Secretary of State for Tourism, it is possible to read "Portugal reached for the first time the world leadership in terms of the quality of tourism infrastructures, according to the World Economic Forum’s 2019 Tourism Competitiveness Report", which became available today.

The study, which is carried out every two years, had, in 2017, placed Portugal in the 14th place in terms of the world competitiveness. 

"Portugal is in the highest position ever, having risen eight positions since 2013 (20th place) and three places since 2015 (15th place). This WEF report makes an in-depth analysis of tourism in over 130 world economies", said the guardianship.

Portugal also rose five places in natural and cultural resources (from 20th to 15th), in air transport (from 31st to 21st), in the rapid adoption of technologies (from 41st to 38th) or in the prioritization of tourism (from 14th to 12th), which reflects "the strong focus that has been put on the attraction of international connections and on widening tourism throughout the territory and all year", says the same note.

The index evaluates 14 items that are then used to measure a country's competitiveness, according to the document.

These results "show that the 10-year strategy we have built for tourism is giving results. We have reached the highest position ever in this ranking, and we have been considered the country with the best tourist infrastructure in the world," underlines the Secretary of State of Tourism, Ana Mendes Godinho, quoted in the statement

For the Secretary of State, "Portugal is increasingly an international reference in tourism, being this report a key piece for attracting investment".

On August 14, the National Statistics Institute (INE) revealed that the main indicators of tourist activity accelerated in June, driven by domestic and foreign markets, with guests increasing 9.7%, overnights rising 5.6 % and revenues growing 11.8%.

According to INE, "in June 2019, the tourist accommodation sector registered 2.7 million guests, which provided 7.1 million overnight stays", reflecting growth of 9.7% and 5.6%, respectively ( + 7.0% and + 3.1% in May, in the same order).