Portugal has been elected to the executive council of the UN World Tourism Organisation – a development that economy minister Pires de Lima has welcomed as “reflecting the importance that tourism has” for the country.
In a statement after the result was announced in Bogotá, Colombia, yesterday (on Tuesday) Pires de Lima said that money made from tourism in Portugal increased by 37% between 2010 and 2014 and by another 13% this year.
Last year also, Portugal succeeded in attracting “three times more guests and four times more hotel reservations than Spain – a performance that exceeds averages for both Mediterranean countries and Europe as a whole”, he said.
Portugal’s election to the executive council also confirms the importance of public work that has been undertaken by Turismo de Portugal – whose efforts were distinguished recently with the Oscar for the best public tourism authority in Europe”, he added.
Pires de Lima stressed that Portugal now had an “opportunity” to increase this country’s “notoriety as a touristic power”, and could influence cooperation and good practices within the sector “on a global level”.
The WTO is a forum set up to discuss tourism policies and share data. It is made up of 156 member countries.
