"פורטוגל היא מותג חזק מאוד"

In his speech, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa pointed out three reasons that explain this year’s success in tourism in Portugal, namely the fact that there is “a very strong brand called Portugal” – something he that explains having learned from the contacts he has made “with different economies and societies, namely European, American, African and Asian”.

“We can do a lot more [for the brand] and I've heard ideas to do more, but the truth is that there is”, he assures.

In his view, “this is an achievement of the regime, not of government A, B, C or D: it results from work carried out over the last decade and a half. Several governments with completely different thoughts made a different, but important, contribution to this reinforcement”.

In a second point, he attributes the success this year of tourism in Portugal to the fact that the country was perceived worldwide for having managed the pandemic well, stating that “the way we treated the pandemic consolidated the idea that in Portugal there are health structures that can work well linked to tourism”.

In the third point, the President of the Republic stated that Portuguese tourism “benefited from the war”, as it was “seen” as a place of security, “close but distant” from the conflict.

“This made Portugal, which already had a reputation of peace and security, a safer destination in relative terms,” he said.