Visit Portugal showcases tourism variety

The ‘concentrated diversity’ of Portugal has been on display across Canada this week, as dozens of suppliers from the country met with the Canadian travel trade during the destination’s 2016 workshops.

The Visit Portugal tour came to Toronto on April 6 after a show in Vancouver earlier this week and wrapping up with a stop in Montreal on April 7. Approximately 25 representatives from the country’s airlines, resorts, hotels, tour operators and more have been meeting with their Canadian counterparts throughout the week.

William Delgado, Visit Portugal’s country manager for Canada, told PAX that Canadian arrivals to the country continue to climb, with more than 155,000 direct arrivals last year – a 17 per cent increase over 2014.

“And we’re looking to grow that even more,” he added.

While the city experiences found in the capital of Lisbon and the beaches of Algarve remain popular with Canadians, Delgado said that more travellers are exploring Portugal’s interior with treks to the Centro and Porto regions, offering a variety of experiences from culture to wine and more, describing the country’s tourism offerings as “concentrated diversity,” with a variety of travel experiences found nearby within a relatively small space.

“Lisbon is the gateway region and Algarve remains very popular but we’ve discovered that Canadians are wandering off a little more, discovering Porto in the north and Centro, as well as the Azores, which have become very popular,” Delgado told PAX. “It’s a small country but a tremendous amount of variety for travellers."

Delgado added that with the recent terror attacks in Brussels, Canadians may be cautious regarding travel to Europe in general; however, he said now is the time when those travellers are most needed.

“It’s natural that there will be some drop-off; people tend to pull back a little bit and it’s unfortunate what’s happening,” Delgado said. “Luckily, Portugal has been untouched and we haven’t had any security situations. What we’re telling Canadian travellers is don’t turn your back on Europe – now is when we need your support the most.”

Connections from Canada are offered by Transat, Azores Air (formerly known as SATA International) and Air Canada rouge; during the lunch, Vijay Bathija, vice-president – commercial for Air Canada Leisure Group, confirmed that the carrier will add a sixth flight to Lisbon from Toronto this summer.

PHOTO: Vijay Bathija, vice-president – commercial, Air Canada Leisure Group; Marina Laureano, product manager – operations & events department, tourism promotion division, Visit Portugal; William Delgado, country manager, Visit Portugal.