28 March 2017 LISBON — Philippine tourist destinations were featured at Portugal’s biggest annual tourism fair, Bolsa de Turismo de Lisboa (BTL) 2017 at the Feira Industrial de Lisboa located in Parque das Naçoes from March 15 to 19.

Portugal’s national and regional tourism boards, airline companies, hotels and resorts, tour operators, travel agencies, Embassies and other members of the tourism industry joined the fair. More than 75,000 visitors and 400 foreign tour operators from around 36 countries gathered for the event.

This is the fourth year in which the Philippine Embassy in Lisbon participated in this event in collaboration with Portuguese tour operator Quadrante Viagens. The Philippines has been slowly gaining inroads into the Portuguese market as a holiday destination seen through the increasing number of tourist arrivals from Portugal every year. According to data from the Philippine Department of Tourism tourist arrivals from Portugal increased when compared to the previous year’s figures by 14.88% in 2014, 22.62% in 2015, and by 35.95% in 2016. END