World trends and the state of Portuguese tourism – round table on opportunities for businesses development

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to identify the current state of the Portuguese tourism, its opportunities and challenges based on the conclusions of the International Tourism Forum (ITF)/Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes (WHATT) Round Table attended by representatives of the main public and private entities of the tourism sector in Portugal.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents and discusses the main conclusions resulting from the ITF/WHATT Round Table. The event was organized by the Institute for Tourism Planning and Development, under the theme “Tourism in 2016: from trends to results”.

Findings

The ITF/WHATT Round Table concluded that the tourism industry worldwide and in Portugal, in particular, is facing major challenges that call for innovative ways of managing the tourism experience. On the other hand, world tourism growth was seen as a reality that will remain, and destinations will have to continue working to achieve better tourists instead of getting more tourists.

Practical implications

This analysis provides knowledge about the current state of the Portuguese tourism, its challenges and opportunities while identifying innovative ways and likely solutions to improve the experience of tourists visiting Portugal.

Originality/value

The profiling of the current state of the Portuguese tourism, its opportunities and challenges contributes to the design of more effective strategies to improve the Portuguese tourist offer and the experience of tourists visiting Portugal.

Citation

Costa, J. and Carvalho, S. (2016), "World trends and the state of Portuguese tourism – round table on opportunities for businesses development", Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, Vol. 8 No. 6, pp. 670-676. https://doi.org/10.1108/WHATT-09-2016-0052