Portugal targets 500,000 Chinese tourists annually by 2026

Lisbon: Portugal aims to welcome 500,000 Chinese tourists annually by 2026, with a target of 1 million overnight stays. Carlos Abade, head of the Portuguese Tourism Board, made the announcement during a visit to Beijing for the ITB China travel trade fair.

In Q1 2024, Portugal welcomed 57,740 Chinese tourists, a 135% YoY increase but only 70% of 2019 levels. Abade hopes to match 2019’s figures of 385,000 guests and $246.4 million (€224 million) in revenue by year-end.

Although fewer flights following China’s reopening post-COVID-19 have limited tourist numbers, Porto saw a 107% year-over-year increase in Chinese tourists. The Tourism Board is also active on Chinese social networks like WeChat to promote Portugal.

Over the past year, Chinese high-net-worth individuals have changed where they choose to invest due to a plethora of new legal developments.

More and more Chinese residents have been investing their money in foreign passports despite the fact that China does not formally recognize dual citizenship. East Asian applications for citizenship and alternative residency were 210% greater in Q1 2023 than they were in Q1 of the previous year, according to investment migration consultancy Henley & Partners.

Increased access to the major global markets has also become crucial as China struggles with a property bubble implosion amid an ongoing economic slowdown. According to experts, wealthy Chinese people actually own fewer diversified assets than their counterparts around the world.