MANILA, Philippines – Philippine tourist destinations were recently featured at Portugal’s biggest annual tourism fair, Bolsa de Turismo de Lisboa (BTL) 2017 at the Feira Industrial de Lisboa located in Parque das Naçoes.
Portugal’s national and regional tourism boards, airline companies, hotels and resorts, tour operators, travel agencies, Embassies and other members of the tourism industry joined the fair. More than 75,000 visitors and 400 foreign tour operators from around 36 countries gathered for the event.
This is the fourth year in which the Philippine Embassy in Lisbon participated in this event in collaboration with Portuguese tour operator Quadrante Viagens.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Philippines has been slowly gaining inroads into the Portuguese market as a holiday destination seen through the increasing number of tourist arrivals from Portugal every year.
Based on the data from the Philippine Department of Tourism, tourist arrivals from Portugal increased when compared to the previous year’s figures by 14.88 percent in 2014, to 22.62 percent in 2015, and up by 35.95 percent in 2016.
Phl tourist destinations featured in Portugal’s biggest International Tourism Fair
