The influence of international tourism on exports of agro-food products: the case of Portugal

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of the international tourism on exports of agro-food products. To analyze this effect a questionnaire-based survey was conducted on a sample of inbound visitors (N=500) who visited Portugal in 2015. Our findings provide insights about the consumption of agro-food products during the trip to Portugal, the places where the products were consumed, the visitors’ intentions to consume and likelihood to recommend these local products to friends and relatives when they return to their home country. The results also allow identifying the difference among some agro-food products that are important to national economy (olive oil, canned fish, sausages, cheese and wine) regarding the frequency of agro-food consumption, place of consumption and future intentions to consume and recommend. Based on these results some recommendations which support the development of strategies that might contribute to increase the impact of international tourism on exports of agro-food products are presented.