Portuguese emigrants who are economically active would like to return to Portugal and invest in the tourism sector. This was the main conclusion of a study made by the Aveiro University, which highlights that the hotel and accommodation business, followed by restaurants and leisure services, are amongst the businesses of choice in which emigrants would like to invest back home.
The study, revealed earlier this week, is part of a PhD thesis by researcher Rossana Santos, and involved an inquiry to 5,157 emigrants. The most represented age group is the one between 18 and 39 years, totalling 54.4% of the inquired people.
“There is a segment of economically active Portuguese emigrants, mainly those aged between 29 and 39 years and used to living in rural or empoverished areas in Portugal, who are more likely to return to the country, invest and find a job in the tourism sector,” the researcher told Dinheiro Vivo newspaper.
According to Rossana Santos, the inquired expats have left Portugal between 2005 and 2011, have been living abroad for more than one year and boast entrepreneurial spirit, a higher education and enough money to invest.
