Portugal is eager to greet thousands of Chinese visitors, which will not only demonstrate China's increasing national strength in the world's tourism industry, but also indicate an exciting changes between the west-east relations, said visiting Luis Correia da Silva, secretary of state of tourism of Portugal.

He said Portugal has 11 World Cultural Heritage sites, which are attractive for Chinese people who also enjoy long history. Portugal also has tasty Porto wine, delicious food, a long coast with many beaches and beautiful golf courses.

Portugal had some 12 million inbound tourists last year, but Chinese people only occupied a small portion. He hoped after Chinese travel agencies are allowed to organize group tours, the number of Chinese visitors can grow rapidly.

He said the Euro 2004 will be held in Portugal. China Central Television will broadcast every match after showing half an hour of Portuguese scenery, which will make the Chinese audience more familiar with the nation.

Air Portugal was also here for dialogue with China's aviation authority and three major airline groups, in the hope of opening direct links to Lisbon, said the airline's vice president Jose Guedes Dias.

Quite a few Chinese tourists were preparing for an eight-day tour including France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. The first group is expected to set out at the end of May.

Da Silva said the Portuguese language can be seen everywhere in Macao and maybe one day the Chinese language would also be found widely in Portugal.
 
(Xinhua News Agency April 23, 2004)