– The purpose of this article is to offer a response to the general proposed questions “Did the context of economic crisis affect the image of Portugal as a tourist destination? What were the answers and lessons learned?” from TAP Portugal perspective and what were, for the airline, the answers and lessons learned for the future.
– Major economic indicators in Portugal and Europe were compared with TAP numbers and Portuguese Travel and Tourism balance of payments.
– The image of Portugal as a tourist destination was not affected. Portugal managed to use the increase in international exposure to publicise itself for the right reasons. The key to future success lies on markets intelligence.
– This article constitutes an original viewpoint based on TAP market experience and may be useful for tourism and travel industry professionals, students and research community.
