Portugal has emerged as a country with a consistent economic growth and one of the sources of the prospering of the Gross Domestic Product is the tourism industry which in recent times has been responsible for adding huge revenues to the economy as a whole. Statistics have revealed that tourism has contributed about 5% of the total Gross Domestic Product of the country. According to recent statistics, the country has been visited by a whopping amount of 12.8 million tourists in the year 2006 only. In fact it has made the city of Lisbon the most popular travel destination among the scores of other European cities, second only to Barcelona, with about 7million tourists visiting it in 2006. Moreover, the reduction in the airline prices has also facilitated travel to these destinations.

While the most popular travel destinations in Portugal include the Algarve and Madeira, Lisbon, other regions like the northern part of the Douro Valley, Alentejo and Porto Santo Islands are also fast emerging as attractive options to the tourists. The reason why these areas have been successful in luring tourists is because of the rich history of Portugal. Once a part of the Roman Empire, it was then acquired by the Christian invaders and finally attained independence in the 12th century. Apart from possessing a booming economy, Portugal also has a rich cultural history and heritage with myriad painters, musicians and literary scholars having received world wide acclaim and all this has positively affected tourism. For tourists visiting Portugal presents a lucrative opportunity of reliving these historical junctures. Also Portuguese wines and vineyards are world famous and visiting the vineyards and watching extraction and processing from the grapes to produce wines are a treat indeed. The tourism sector is emerging in Portugal and current figures suggest that it will soon make its way as becoming one of the significant sources of income leading to economic prosperity.