CEO of Living Tours: "Portugal is not and is not a mass tourist destination"

The CEO of Living Tours, a large tour operator focused on the North, is satisfied with the trends for 2024, assuming that the company will quickly reach the 30 million turnover forecast for 2026. Rui Terroso explains how the company invests in guided land tours , air and water, focusing on the best aspects of Porto.

What is Living Tours?

We are an inbound tour operator for Portugal and Spain, so we have Iberian coverage. We have approximately ten areas of activity. We started Living Tours in 2004 and we offer guided tours in Porto and the North of Portugal. Every day we take 500 to 600 people to visit the Douro Valley, Minho, Fátima, Santiago de Compostela and Aveiro.

We also have Living Tours Online, a tours, activities and experiences agency. We have more than 2,500 activities across the Iberian Peninsula. We have Living DMC, where we organize trips for individuals or groups, with already defined routes; Living Transfers is a business area with its own operations in Portugal and partners in Spain; Living TukTuk has its own offer in Porto; Tourist Services in Porto and Lisbon are face-to-face agencies, like a tourist office, where we provide free information in four to six languages ​​and sell the destination's offer to tourists. In 2023 we invested in Living Cruise, like the party boat, with DJ and entertainment, which cruises the six bridges in two hours.

Next year, we are preparing Living Events to mark its 20th anniversary.

After 20 years of existence, they remain very focused on the North of Portugal. Are you thinking about expanding to Lisbon or Algarve?

We think. This is in our plans for 2024 and beyond. In other words, we feel this need to expand.

When we go to a fair in America or China, and because they are distant destinations, people want to do the Iberian Peninsula, at the very least. Coming to just one destination, just Porto or Lisbon on a transatlantic flight, is very limited.

Therefore, there is a need to have this Iberian coverage. We also feel the need to have our own operation, because when outsourcing we are dependent on someone. That's why expansion is part of our plans for other Iberian destinations, including islands.

Even here in Portugal, it is our ambition to operate at a national level and not just at a local level, since we already have all the operational, technological and marketing know-how.

In which region of Spain do you operate?

We are currently based in Barcelona, ​​but we cover all of Spain. In other words, we have groups that enter through Barcelona, ​​but then visit various areas: Andalusia, Madrid, Rioja, Galicia.

We are able to have generous coverage, both for individual and group visits. We had a group of 100 doctors from Brazil who covered the entire coast of Andalusia, Seville, Córdoba and Granada. We always have someone from the team accompanying us on the ground.

How many members does the team have? Have you had difficulty hiring in the last year?

We are now almost 200 people.

At the beginning of 2023 we were very afraid, because the market was stagnant. But we were able to hire all year round, and we will continue to hire for new areas in 2024.

In one year we managed to hire around 100 employees and, fortunately, it was not exactly difficult. Throughout the year, hiring continued to flow and we were able to meet the needs we had.

Are they part of a tour operator or are they independent?

We are independent. I would even say that we are the main operator in the Porto and North region. Then there are some small competitors, which together have the same weight as Living Tours.

We created the project and the company from scratch. We made the investments with the help of banks and reinvested the profits over these 20 years, and this has been our growth.

An investment of three million euros is planned for 2024. Where will you allocate this amount?

We will invest in new fleets, opening new destinations and also physical agencies.

Around one million to 1.8 million euros will be invested in renewing the land fleet, in terms of 29-seater minibuses or nine-seater vehicles, for the shared area. In other words, we have two operations: shared and private, this being a premium and luxury concept.

Our tourism wants to escape mass tourism, we want to give groups privacy.

Even though we have 600 people visiting the Douro every day, we managed to reverse the circuits. The groups go to the same farms, but in separate areas and times. The objective is not to concentrate too many people in the same place, to feel something more personalized.

Then they take advantage of the area’s full potential. Because in addition to ships, they also have helicopters, right?

Yes. But the helicopter is not part of our operation, it is outsourced and we are one of the major sellers of this product.

But we have always had good visibility and projection online. Therefore, anyone looking for this product ends up finding our platform and we book helicopter tours daily.

But it is something that differentiates it from other operators.

Yes. For example, a 360 tour includes the cruise, city tour and helicopter. We offer completely unique and personalized experiences. That's why we've managed to stand out over the years.

Our TripAdvisor score, for example, also helps. We were between 4.7 and 4.8 in five points. It is easy to achieve this rating when you have a small structure, but with a large size it is no longer the case.

This is another of the bets we have made: investing in people, in their training and providing them with the best tools to be able, on a day-to-day basis, to satisfy the demands of the market, people and destinations.

Because each market has its specifications. The European market prefers a shared tour and the Asian market prefers something more private and personalized.

What is your main market?

We work with everyone and do international promotion. But we have the European, American and Canadian market in great prominence.

Last year we had India and China, which are emerging markets and have enormous potential. They are already starting to look for Portugal.

Both China and India are two of the most populous countries in the world. But a percentage of the population has a large purchasing power, travels and actually consumes at the destination. They are, without a doubt, bets.

They will close the year with a turnover of 16 million and want to double it in the next two years to 30 million.

The pandemic led us to take two or three steps back and we were completely closed for two years. In the first phase we still managed to maintain the entire structure and in six months we realized that we had no chance.

When we reopened we made 5% of the turnover. There were no flights to Portugal, it was not possible to bring people together. We couldn't reinvent ourselves and we had to carry out a total restructuring with collective redundancies.

During the two years of the pandemic we managed to reorganize ourselves. We were able to make investments and sought help from banks to do so.

We reopened at the beginning of 2022 and it seems like a long time ago, but no. After the final vacancies, we invested in the fleet and expanded the operation and even had to subcontract to be able to work with the excess demand. This is how we managed to break records and double our revenue.

That's why I believe that, next year, with the projects we have and investments to be made, we will certainly reach 30 million in revenue.

This means that they have already surpassed pre-pandemic revenue.

In 2022 we have already managed to surpass the values ​​of 2019, which had been the best year so far.

For example, we only had the consolidation of group trips again in 2023. In individual terms, the visits were already complete. People wanted to get out after two years of being closed, and we took advantage of that boom.

That's why we are confident for 2024 with all the projection and promotion at an international level. We actually have very good prospects.

In Brazil we are the main operator for the Iberian Peninsula. I believe that 80% of the tour operator market in Brazil already works with us.

If current conditions remain, we believe that 2024 will be an excellent year for tourism.

Portugal tem vivido à base desta vaga do turismo e os portugueses não estão satisfeitos. Vocês estão numa área turística diferente e isso impõe alguns desafios económico. Que desafios económicos é que isso se impõe para uma empresa como a Living Tours?

The tourism sector is a sector that Portugal needs to want more of. Portugal says that the tourism sector is massified, but we are not and are not a mass destination.

Ten years ago we did not exist in the international strategic plan of any event. If it weren't for low-cost [airlines] coming to Portugal, the country wouldn't be an option.

These days it's sad to go to Porto airport and it's empty. It looks like we've reached a stop. Obviously there are months here with peak tourism, but the truth is that tourism currently represents, fortunately or unfortunately, around 20% of the national GDP.

This is very good for everyone. At the moment, 200 people work at Living Tours who have bright perspectives on life and knowledge. We manage to pay good salaries, have goals, give prizes. We paid a 15th month to the entire team that had a growth rate.

A few years ago, these people's prospects were to emigrate. Today, happily, we discussed issues of growth and development. Of course it takes us out of our comfort zone and the average price of housing has risen, but the national salary can also rise and this will make the country grow. This happened in Berlin or Paris. These are growing pains, not sadness.

What is your analysis of the trends for 2024?

Group travel will return and corporate tourism is also back in force. I think the pandemic destabilized the markets, but there have already been improvements.

At a European level, issues of interest rates and war make it difficult to predict trends.

In national demand, I think the United States will stand out. In 2004 it was very difficult and they asked if Portugal was a region in Spain, today they say they want to come to work. Therefore, today we managed to be on the radar.

The biggest boom in realizing that Portugal was a country was, unfortunately, with the troika. Because, in the 2008 crisis, we only talked about three countries in the entire world: Portugal, Spain and Greece, and we said that Portugal was effectively an independent country.

People came and found a cheap destination, a fantastic country in terms of climate, gastronomy, safety and hospitality.

For Americans, Portugal is the California of Europe, and they want to invest here, because it is not a very expensive destination, it is attractive and there are direct flights and connections to the United States. Therefore, the United States will continue to be a very strong market.

Check out the full interview here