Portugal Tourist Board reports 9.8% year on year growth for International Tourists to Portugal in the period January to October 2015
- Ireland is showing 9.1% growth January to October 2015
- Ireland is the 7th biggest market to Portugal
- Ireland is the 5th biggest market to Algarve – our favourite destination in Ireland – with the market up 8.5% from Ireland Jan/Oct 2015
- Madeira is showing a huge increase, thanks to the re-instatement of a shared weekly charter flight this summer – up 126%
- The Centre of Portugal – which includes Fatima is up 11.8% this year and we expect that figure to rise over next 2 years to coincide with the Centenary of Fatima in 2017
With figures just released for October 2015 for the Portugal Tourist Board, the signs are really on that there is a recovery in tourism movement around Europe, with excellent figures reported for nearly all markets, as Portugal confirms an overall 9.8% increase year on year in international tourism.
In terms of the Irish and UK markets, Ireland is up 9.1% up to the end of October and the UK market which includes NI is up 10.2%.
The Irish love affair with Portugal continues, with Portugal holding the 3rd spot for Irish holidaymakers, and Irish figures to Portugal continuing to grow again for the last 3 years.
Airports all around Ireland are confirming high fill-rates on Portugal departures to Faro, as of course Algarve is Ireland’s favourite destination in Portugal. With flights from Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Kerry, Ireland West Knock, Derry and Belfast Airports, and extra capacity for 2016, this strong growth is set to continue!
Said Antonio Padeira, Director of the Portugal Tourist Board for UK and Ireland “ we are delighted to see so many more Irish people coming to Portugal this summer, to enjoy our wonderful country again. Our sunshine record, our value for money and our attitudes to tourism are well-liked by our Irish guests – and that is why I believe, we will continue to see more growth into the winter months and 2016. These figures are a great end to the traditional summer season. And of course with our mild climate, we are also seeing continued growth in the November/December periods as well. So we look forward to our end of year figures, and also to working with the Irish travel trade and press in 2016 to continue to promote Portugal to our Irish friends”
Issued by Aileen Eglington, AE Consulting
E: Aileen.eglington@aeconsult.ie
T: 00 353 1 2948080
M: 00 353 87 2505007
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