Greater digitalisation in tourism could create 50,000 jobs in Portugal

A greater investment in digitalisation in Portugal’s tourism industry could create up to 50,000 more jobs for the Portuguese economy according to a study from Oxford Economics commissioned by Google and released on Tuesday.

According to the study “there is a potential for a growth in tourism revenues” and also for “creating 50,000 more jobs” through digital, says José Maria Júdice, industry manager for Google for tourism in Portugal.
“Improvements in digital connectivity in Portugal since 2012 has created almost 50,000 jobs in tourism, a significant proportion of the 250,000 total jobs created from tourism between 2012 and 2018” states the Oxford Economics study, adding that today “there are opportunities to create 50,000 new jobs in Portugal over the coming years.”
This is why greater investment in digital infrastructure, digital skills and greater digital activity are critical factors for success in reaching targets” states the study.
“Around 80% of searches for travel already takes place online. It is important as a country that we continue to improve ‘online’ content and in attracting people working in the tourism sector who are comfortable using digital” adds José Maria Júdice, adding that Portuguese tourism can count on Google to help the sector.
“It is critical that we continue to have the position that we had in recent years, to think about digital and how it can support tourism and its growth in Portugal and at Google we are here to support that” she said.
Oxford Economics is a company that analyses economic trends and has already carried out studies on tourism in Southern European countries.
It also stated the importance of a number of emerging markets for Portuguese tourism such as Brazil and the United Studies.
“To get an idea, in 2010, the US market was the ninth most important for Portugal in terms of tourists yet in 2018 it was the sixth market in what is clearly an upward trend.”
In recent years the Brazilian tourist market in Portugal has practically doubled. “Technology has helped the sector a lot, both in attracting people to the sector, training them and giving them the tools for them to be more comfortable with digital and also through our digital marketing tools,” she explained.
“The next challenge will be to promote Portugal in sectors such as wine and health tourism as well as sun and beach as alternative examples to the classic model. We’ve got a lot here in Portugal to showcase” José Maria Júdice concluded.