The study assessed 140 worldwide economies and took into consideration the competitiveness of these countries in regards to travel and tourism under the chosen theme of ‘Reducing barrier to economic growth and job creation’.

The report is meant to explore the potential and influence that the travel and tourism industries in general have in regards to a country’s economy and also takes into consideration the creation of jobs, which is essential for the proper development of any country.

So on this list of 140 countries, Portugal placed seventh, behind a couple of unexpected places such as Senegal – sixth – and Macedonia – fourth. The top three friendliest places are Iceland, New Zealand and Morocco.

The President of the Algarve Tourism Board, Desiderio Silva, stated that this favorable positioning of the entire country is thanks to the tourism industry’s approach to its visitors’ needs and requests. The Portuguese people being hospitable in general, but when helped by high quality products in all facets of tourism, coupled with the natural beauty, warm climate and unique gastronomy and culture of the country, it can only boost the way in which they’re perceived by foreigners.

We would like to add that all of the characteristics that we mentioned earlier are available in spades in the Algarve, which can be seen as a microcosm of everything that is great tourism-wise, about the country.

The study has also taken a series of other factors into account, such as the overall tourism infrastructure, economic, legal, environmental and cultural factors, as well as the tourism labor market.

Overall, the various indicators place Portugal in 20^th place when the other placements are taken into account.