In Portugal, especially since the past decade, the national strategies for tourism have reflected concern with the development of the activity based on sustainability principles. This concern has become the goal of the current Tourism Strategy 2027 and has been enhanced by the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, which brought great difficulties to the tourism sector. The sector's recovery is being seen as an opportunity to plan activities based on the principles of sustainable development. Thus, this article intends to analyse the presence of sustainability as a development philosophy in national tourism strategies and to analyse the effect of the pandemic on the current strategy. The analysis showed that the main effect of the pandemic on the national strategy was to accelerate the implementation of sustainable practices. The publication of the Tourism Plan +Sustainability 20-23 shows that it is the first phase of the challenge of making Portugal a sustainable tourist destination.

Abstract

In Portugal, especially since the past decade, the national strategies for tourism have reflected concern with the development of the activity based on sustainability principles. This concern has become the goal of the current Tourism Strategy 2027 and has been enhanced by the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, which brought great difficulties to the tourism sector. The sector's recovery is being seen as an opportunity to plan activities based on the principles of sustainable development. Thus, this article intends to analyse the presence of sustainability as a development philosophy in national tourism strategies and to analyse the effect of the pandemic on the current strategy. The analysis showed that the main effect of the pandemic on the national strategy was to accelerate the implementation of sustainable practices. The publication of the Tourism Plan +Sustainability 20-23 shows that it is the first phase of the challenge of making Portugal a sustainable tourist destination.