The organisers of the annual International Tourism Fair in Lisbon want to target the Portuguese public to regain lost customers.
The premier tourism event for 2014 features over 1,000 companies and organisations, of which about 100 are first time exhibitors. The fair will cost over €1 million to host and the goal this year is to attract more than the 65,000 visitors received last year.
The vice president of the organising committee, Vítor Neto, said today that the exhibition which takes place in Lisbon between 12 and 16 March, "places a lot of importance on the general public." At a time when the domestic market has all but dried up, the goal is to "win back the massive presence of the Portuguese."
The timing is "at a time when many Portuguese start planning their holidays" and companies are focussing campaigns and offers for Easter and summertime.
During the weekend "visitors will have access to prices, promotions and special offers which in some cases can be up to 70% off," said Neto.
Some outsider locations atre being allowed in with deals and offers for those widshing to visit countries including Austria, Malaysia, Panama, Amazonas, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Philippines.
The organisers hope to receive about 2,500 foreign travel and tourism professionals and have launched a new area for smaller, start-up tourism companies.
Present at the pre-event press conference was the Secretary of State for Tourism, Adolfo Mesquita Nunes, who said "the strategy of the International Tourism Fair is well received by the Government, the positioning of Portugal as a platform to connect various continents, where Portugal can act as a central space between Africa and Europe, and Latin America and Europe."
This brief analysis failed to recognise the organiser’s stated aim to encourage domestic tourism but it was good of him to turn up.
