Portugal tourism growth slowed sharply as fewer Brits visit

FILE PHOTO: A tourist rests at Comercio square in downtown Lisbon, Portugal April 11, 2019. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante

LISBON (Reuters) - The number of foreign tourists who travelled to Portugal rose 7.5% to 22.8 million visitors in 2018, a sharp slowdown from a nearly 17 percent jump the previous year due to a decline in visitors from Britain, its biggest market.

Portugal's tourist numbers have risen uninterruptedly for eight years and the sector has been a powerful growth engine as the country exited a 2011-14 debt crisis.