Lisbon is a very cultured city as the city has a lot of history and culture which is shown in the streets of Lisbon and there are many iconic landmarks in the city where many tourists can visit for example there are castles and nature parks. There are also a lot of museums in the city as the country has a historical element so there are places like the Air museum, Anjos Teixeira museum, Benfica museum and many more.

 

Size of tourism industry

Tourism figure

As you can see in this graph above the tourism density in Portugal has been increasing after Covid19, and it seems to be increasing gradually. It is also shown that in the image to the right that Lisbon is the most visited city in Portugal as you can see as the location of the city is right on the coast so many people from different countries mainly the united kingdom which is the most popular country where tourists come from, therefore it makes a lot of sense as to why most tourists would visit the capital city as there is also a lot of culture in the city and history too which would also attract a lot of tourists.

Because of all the factor Lisbon provides and all the activities, Portugal was elected as the second best city in the world in 2022 because of richness of the culture and food and the amount of stuff there is to do in the famous city. Lisbon is also home to over 500 hotels with over 400,000 rooms in the city which is more than enough compared to the amount of people that visit this beautiful city.

Employment

You can see here that the number of employees in the travel and tourism sector in Portugal from 2010 to 2022 is higher than the previous high in 2019 and you could see this is because of Covid19, because no one could travel to any country during the pandemic a lot of people were eager to explore different countries and cities because of the restriction of not being able to explore the countries they want which took a big toll on the people who had worked in the hospitality industry as many of them did not have anywhere else to work so all they could do is wait until everything opens back up again which is frustrating for them too.

There are many jobs in the city of Lisbon to do with travel and tourism, for example there are many taxis in the city as well as tram driver who also give tours of famous and archaeological places around the city. There are also people who give private tours and group tours to tourists who have just arrived, for example there would be some citizens that would show tourists around the city for their whole trip whilst they’re in Lisbon which is also very useful.

Apart from there being jobs in the hospitality industry because of how the city is on the coast there are also many fishermen as it is the most leading industry in the city since 1970 as the industry also generated billions from trading their fish and also selling it.

Impact to local economy

Tourism in Lisbon impacts the local economy a lot as they do depend hugely on tourism because most of the economy is based on tourism as you can see in the graph below. But tourism is not the leading industry that they solely rely on as there are also many other industries that Lisbon relied on before the tourism started to escalate in Lisbon for example the fishing industry was an industry they heavily relied on because of the location of the city.

There are also many jobs that the local citizens do and they are mostly service based jobs such as working at construction sites and mainly building jobs as well as fishermen too.

Consumer

The demographic of tourists that travel to Lisbon is very diverse, as you can see in the image above couple between the ages of 35-54 visit Lisbon annually. There are many people from all over the world that visit Lisbon, in 2022 the first country is Spain with over 2.2 million people visiting the famous city, second it is United Kingdom with over 2.1 million people, then France and United States both have 1.5 million people that visited Lisbon.

The demographic in Lisbon excluding any tourists in the city is a mix of young and old citizens, as there is a lot of activities and restaurants for both demographics which also shows how diverse the city can be in terms of having a mix of activities for all tourists and citizens that would want to participate too.

As you can see from the image above there are activities available for the demographic in Lisbon. There is half day sightseeing, group tours in different parts of Lisbon as well as beach trips too.

Food and culture/wine

The food in the Lisbon is mostly known for their seafood because of how the city is along the Atlantic coastline fresh fish and shell fish is very accessible for them.

There are many famous traditional dishes that they eat in Lisbon, for example “Bachlhau” which is salted cod that can be prepared in many different ways such as fried potatoes and cream. Apart from eating fish in Lisbon there are also many famous dishes that include meat too, for example “Bifana” and “Prego”

Lisbon also has a rich culture when it comes to winemaking as they are known for their international grapes that produce their wines as they do have their own wine region too.

Cost of living

In terms of living in Lisbon, it is relatively affordable as many people would be able to live there with 1,200 euros a month. As you can see in this graph above the majority of people that live in Lisbon spend their money on rent which is not a lot in Portugal as the average price for rent there is around $800 so citizens there get to spend their finances on many other things. The next majority is that most people also spend their money at markets, for example most people in Lisbon love going to supermarkets in order to buy food and any necessities for the month, but as the cost of living in Lisbon is not too high the amount of money they are left with still allows them to spend money on many other factors such as clothes, transportation and eating out at restaurants.

There are also many travellers that come to Portugal to live there for a short amount of time, such as digital nomads who make over $4000 a month get to live frugally in Lisbon and still enjoy the culture, food and most importantly the weather.

Safety

 

Lisbon is a relatively safe place to visit as it is top 10 in the global peace index list in 2023 so this means that it is the top 10 safest city to visit or live in.

There are still many flaws in Lisbon, there are pickpockets, scammers and mugging but these crimes do not really happen in the main central Lisbon. Although the pickpockets do happen in the most tourist part of Lisbon but it is rare. Which makes it one of the most safest cities in the world due to there being less to no amount of pick pocketing going on in the city.

The reason why they are top 10 in the global peace index is because of the military and police presence as they are top five in that list globally as you can see below. So this means that the amount of police and military presence keeps the criminal activity away. Also the fact that the demographic in Lisbon also shows why there is low a criminality rate.

Technology

The technology has improved for tourists at the moment as there are many apps that have been released that help tourists get around and explore and book activities.

Also due to the pandemic a lot of technology has been released due to covid19 for example “Strong collaboration has also been built between the Portuguese Tourism Board and NEST – Tourism Innovation Centre, a consortium founded in February 2019, which comprises eight entities, Turismo de Portugal, ANA Airports, Brisa Via Verde, Google, Microsoft, Millennium BCP, NOS and BPI.” - Source

There are also smart tourism guides like the image above that help tourist get around the city and find out what activities and restaurants they could visit. The city guru is a great website for tourists who would like to explore Lisbon.

As well as there being smart tourism guides like this image above there could be better ways for the city to use smart tourism, such as they could create more apps for tourists that would help them get around the city as well as apps that would give them suggestions on where to eat and do activities.

Economical

 

The economy in Lisbon is great due to the amount of tourism they receive, in 2023 the travel and tourism exports reached 25.1 billion euros, which proves that Lisbon relies heavily on tourism because of many factors including the location and the food and culture. Which shows how much the travel and tourism industry has helped Lisbon’s economy and how much it helped the city as they were only relying on other industries to help with their economy before building the city up for the hospitality industry.

As we can see Lisbon rely heavily on the tourism with the economy but there are many factors that help the economy grow such as the fishing industry since the city is on the coast it is easier for them to fish and provide and trade fish for other cities or countries. The Economy have also relied on the fishing industry heavily because “Since the 1970s other industries have migrated from the Baixa to other locales in the metropolitan area. Following the 1975 revolution, Lisbon’s heavy industries were nationalised. By the 1980s they had been reprivatized, with multinational companies dominating the technology and pharmaceutical industries. Since the 1990s services have become the dominant economic activity of Lisbon.” -source.

This shows how much Lisbon has relied on the fishing industry since the 1970s until now but they have also brought along the travel and tourism industry to help their economy too. Which is important for them to rely on these two industries as they both help each other and therefore it grows the economy in Lisbon rapidly.

Conclusion

Summary

Lisbon is a great place to visit, it is very family friendly and also has places for young adults and the elderly to visit. There are many activities that tourists can take part in and enjoy, as well as the food and culture is something that tourists would love as there are many different types of food and there is also vineyards for the adults to visit. Apart from this Lisbon is a very safe place to visit as there is not that many complaints about the city and not a lot of crimes happen therefore it is safe, the economy in Lisbon is good because of the amount of tourists they receive from different countries as well as the cost of living for the residents there too.

Suggestion

Lisbon can also improve their hospitality industry by doing many things and upgrading many factors in the city, such as the technology there could be upgraded and improved for the new tourists who visit the city because if the technology is improved in terms of using it for travel and tourism it would attract many more tourists to their city and the demographic would most likely increase because of this.

Another way that they could improve their hospitality industry is by also improving the activities they have, for example the city makes amazing wine so for the older demographic of people visiting Lisbon it would be nice if they could participate in more vineyard tours and wine tasting which would be a very peaceful and calm experience for them. Another example for the younger demographic would be add more outdoor activities such as going on ATVs and hiking and exploring different beautiful parts of the city. And this would also strengthen their competitive advantage as upgrading some factors that they already provide would encourage more people to visit and as the cost of living is not too high it would be great for tourist that are travelling on a budget and all this could potentially take Lisbon to be the first best city in the world in due time.