American tourists spent €227 million in Portugal between January and June 2013, representing a market which has been growing for the last five years and is still likely to increase, according to a representative of the national tourism board, Turismo de Portugal, in New York, USA.
Nuno Alves, the representative, was cited by Lusa news agency as saying that the American market has seen a two-digit growth since 2008 and has shown very positive results.
Data from the National Statistics Institute and the Bank of Portugal reveals that the €227 million American tourists spent in Portugal this year represents a €47.8 million growth compared to the same period last year.
More than 150,000 Americans were accounted for in Portuguese hotels during this period, representing a 16.8% increase compared to 2012.
Alves advised Portuguese businessmen to invest in the American market and “not be afraid of the country’s dimension”.
He explained that American people see Portugal as “the best value destination of Western Europe” because it offers the same quality at lower prices compared to countries such as Spain, for example.
According to the tourism board representative, they are also an important market because they “spend money”.
“The money they spend per capita is one of the highest in Portugal,” Alves stated.
He was speaking at a promotional event of Vale do Douro, which was taking place in New York.
