'Brelcome': Portugal woos post-Brexit tourists from UK

Lisbon - Portugal on Friday launched an internet campaign aimed at wooing UK visitors, its most valuable tourist market, to keep visiting the country after Brexit.

"Sometimes life plays tricks on us... but there are things that don't change... no border will separate us," the so-called "Brelcome" campaign says.

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The adverts pay tribute to the British "sense of humour" and their "joie de vivre".

Portugal's socialist government has been making contingency plans to protect its tourism sector in the event of a no-deal Brexit by exempting UK tourists from visas.

"Portugal will show the UK that with or without Brexit we will welcome the British in the same way," secretary of state for tourism Ana Mendes Godinho said.

According to official statistics, 1.8 million Britons travelled to Portugal in 2018, a decrease of 5.8% on the previous year, while the total number of tourists increased by 0.4% to 12.8 million.