I’ll be honest – I was starting to feel a bit left out, feeling like the only person I knew who had never been to Portugal. My colleague Bruce just got back from the ACTA conference in the Azores, John just returned from the Portugal Travel Marketplace last month and Catherine at TravelPulse Quebec just returned from a press trip to Lisbon two weeks ago.
So when the opportunity to visit Porto and the northern part of the country arose, I jumped at the chance to see what all the fuss is about.
It has not disappointed.
Our itinerary is a big one – Porto and Vila do Conde so far with Braga, Guimaraes, and Monverde rounding out the rest of the week. In two short days we've toured Porto on foot, were welcomed our first night at Editory Boulevard Hotel, walked across the Duoro River for a literal WOW Experience, ate delicious meals, visited a sardine factory where we tasted sardines, mackeral and wines, mingled with partners from the North Porto Tourism board, visited Estela Golf Course which will soon be home to a 5-star resort on property and checked in a Vila Gale Collection hotel in Braga that used to be both a monastery and hospital. Whew.
It's all part of showcasing another side of the country, making room for more tourism and likely repeat visitors to the region who want to explore a new part of the country. Through the first five months of 2023, the number of foreign tourists visiting Portugal topped 6.4 million, up from 5.7 million in 2019. The totals are good news for the nation’s economy, as tourism accounted for almost 15 percent of gross domestic product before the COVID-19 pandemic.
That visitation is largely driven by the US and the UK – however visitation from Canada should increase after the spring, when Air Canada adds new direct flights to Porto from Montreal.
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