The mayor of Lisbon, Antonio Costa, Tuesday in Brazil launched a campaign to promote tourism to the Portuguese capital, with the aim of attracting 400,000 Brazilians in 2009. The “Lisboa Convida” (Lisbon Invitation) campaign was presented at a meeting with around 100 guests in Sao Paulo, at an event that was repeated Tuesday in Campinas, in the interior of the state of Sao Paulo, and again Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro. Next month, teh campaign will be presented in four more Brazilain state capitals, namely Recife, Belo Horizonte, Salvador and Brasilia.

Brazil is currently the sixth largest provider of tourists to Lisbon and the first non-European country. Between January and November of last year, the number of Brazilian tourists saw the greatest rise, of 22.6 percent against the same period of 2007, totalling 174,642 people. The number of overnight stays, in its turn, rose 21.5 percent to 396,874 tourists in the period, with an average daily spend of 190 euros.

Figures from airline TAP Air Portugal showed that Lisbon is currently the preferred destination of Brazilians visiting Europe. On the routes the air carrier flies to Brazil, which include 60 direct flights between Lisbon and several Brazilian state capitals, 48 percent of passengers are Brazilian.

The “Lisboa Convida” campaign is promoted by the Lisbon Tourism Association (ATL), in partnership with TAP Air Portugal.