Official data indicate that annual revenue from tourism in Portugal grew to €15.15 billion (US$18.6 billion) last year, 19.5 percent more than the year before and the most ever – in large part because more freely-spending Chinese visited.

The Ministry of the Economy issued a written statement saying revenue grew twice as fast as the number of visitor-nights in hotels.

The ministry drew attention to an increase of 41 percent in the number of Chinese tourists and an increase of 39 percent growth in the number of Brazilian tourists.

The Chinese were the highest spenders among the tourists that visited Portugal last year, each spending, on average, €642 a day, statistics bureau data indicate.