TravTalk India Online Magazine
Not only is Portugal Tourism opening an office in India, it will also appoint a local representative in Mumbai by May 2017.
Portugese tourism ministry will be making a direct presence in India soon, by opening a tourism office in Mumbai. Luis Araujo, President, Turismo De Portugal, reveals, “We will open a new tourism office in Mumbai this year which will interact and work with the travel trade. We will have someone from Portugal stationed here. We will also appoint a local representative as it is important to have someone who already understands the market and will know what works here.”
Araujo was in Mumbai promoting Portugal as a favourable destination for shooting films and TV productions. Underlining the kind of initiatives Portugal wants to undertake through the new office, he adds, “We will look to form strategic partnerships with travel agents and tour operators in India. This also means a significant increase in our budgets for the India market. We are hoping that the direct flight that will be launched between Beijing and Lisbon this July will help push India numbers too.” Portugal is targeting honeymooners, weddings and MICE apart from leisure travellers. “But we want to give the travel trade in India the argument and tell us what products would suit the Indian market. We have a population of about 11 million of which 60 per cent speak English. In 2016, we welcomed 30,000 people from India, which is quite a small number and we plan to increase this number in the years to come. We do not have any direct flights to Portugal from India but we have very good connections. Portugal is now the hub for North America, South America and the entire Europe,” Araujo says.
Portugal has direct flights from every capital in Europe to Lisbon and Porto. It also has direct flights to Dubai and Istanbul on Turkish Airlines. Portugal is also offering a tax incentive of 25 per cent cash rebate, apart from assistance in accommodation, and location scouting for future films and television series. “We offer beautiful landscape and great diversity ideal for film shoots. Portugal is a small country and one can travel from north to south in five hours passing through landscapes with snow and reaching sandy beaches. Most importantly we have great cameramen, photographers, make-up artists, etc., which is important because Indian directors know that when they arrive in Portugal, this will help them stick to their schedule,” he adds
