Guest of honor at the 26th Bienal do Livro, Portugal invests in literary tourism

In recent years, driven by the isolation of the pandemic, the consumption of books and e-books soared in Brazil. And, following this trend, cultural options outside the pages also emerged. It is the case of literary tourism one of the bets of the Portuguese government for the sector.

Honored at the 26th Bienal do Livro, which takes place in the city of São Paulo until July 10, the Portuguese government is visiting Brazil this week. It is one more of the actions proposed between the two countries for the celebrations of the bicentennial of Independence of Brazil, next September 7th.

“It is an important occasion, because it celebrates, especially after these two years of pandemic, a resumption. And it also allows us to show a different country, a Portugal that values ​​its culture, its literature”, it says Luis Araújo, president of Turismo de Portugal .

In an exclusive interview with CNN, Luis Araujo highlighted the participation of Brazilians in the tourism numbers in Portugal. Whether because of the language or the proximity between cultures, Portugal is one of the favorite international destinations for Brazilians.

“In 2019, Brazil was the 5th main tourist market for Portugal. We received 27 million tourists in Portugal, across the country in 2019, and Brazil was responsible for almost 1.3 million people for our country alone”, adds the president of Portuguese Tourism.

Literary tourism, a different way of traveling, proposes to unite the fascination for the universe of literature and different experiences in the field of gastronomy, accommodation, culture and historical sites. “It’s trying to find a link that shows the whole country and all these assets that we have, and literature allows that”, explains Luis Araujo.

And, being the land of the main authors of the Portuguese language – such as Camões, Gil Vicente, Eça de Queiroz and also contemporary authors, such as José Luis Peixoto and Afonso Cruz – Portugal has several options for readers who wish to embark on these destinations.

We have more than 45 houses of Portuguese authors, from Casa do Eça to Fundação Saramago; we have beautiful national libraries, like the one in Mafra or Coimbra; we have traditional and historical bookstores such as in Porto and Lisbon and, finally, we have a series of literary festivals. It’s a different way of getting to know Portugal, which we combine with wine tourism, industrial tourism, contemporary art tourism, architecture, among others.

Luis Araujo, president of Turismo de Portugal

Literary tourism itineraries are accompanied by a recent – ​​and rapid – resumption of the sector in Portugal. In the first quarter of 2022, the country has already surpassed by 16% the tourism numbers in 2019, before the pandemic.

Among the factors that explain these results, Luis Araujo highlights the slowing down of the pandemic restriction measures and, during 2020 and 2021, aid measures from the Portuguese government for the tourism sector.

“More than 3 billion euros, nearly 18 billion reais, were given to the tourism industry in Portugal to support the industry and keep the engines running. And the expected result of this year is that we will be able to exceed the historic maximum of 2019, which was 19 billion euros of revenue from the tourism sector for the economy in Portugal.”, adds Luis Araujo. And the Brazilian tourist is seen as an important part of this recovery.

I believe that there is a great desire to travel on the part of the Brazilian market and I think that by the end of the year we will be able, I don’t know if we will resume the 2019 numbers, but at least forward so that in the coming years the Brazilian market will continue to be a of the main markets for Portugal

Luis Araujo, president of Turismo de Portugal