The “historic victory” of inaugurating direct flights between Lisbon and Beijing has seen the number of Chinese tourists increase in the first nine months of this year by a staggering 40%.
Who gave this news was a delighted secretary of state for tourism, Ana Mendes Godinho.
Speaking in Macau yesterday (Thursday) at the 43rd congress of the association of Portuguese travel and tourism agencies, Mendes Godinho said that this year saw 191,000 Chinese tourists take advantage of the air link up to September, which is an increase of actually more than 40% on the same period last year.
It shows the Chinese market is in constant ascendency, and it has changed the ‘paradigm’ of the past, she said, when Portugal was wholly dependent on Chinese tourists entering the country via airports in Spain.
Everything points to Chinese tourists continuing to arrive in similar numbers, which is “fantastic”, added Mendes Godinho – stressing that Chinese holidaymakers arrive in Portugal “seeking history, culture, gastronomy, safety and different experiences”.
