Commercial Transparency
How commercial partnerships work on the portal and our commitment to editorial independence.
Portugal Travel Hub is commercially supported through partnerships with companies in the coastal tourism sector. This document explains how that commercial relationship works — and where the boundaries lie that protect editorial quality.
How commercial presence on the portal works
The portal offers two distinct types of visibility to businesses in the sector:
- Contracted commercial presence — featured listings, partner pages and co-branding formats, clearly identified as "Partner", "Sponsored" or "Partner Content".
- Editorial mention — organic references to services, destinations or entities that the editorial team considers relevant to the reader, without any commercial consideration. Contracted commercial presence does not guarantee or influence editorial mentions.
The two categories do not mix. A commercial partner does not receive more favourable editorial reviews by virtue of having paid presence on the portal.
Identification of commercial content
All content with a direct commercial relationship is identified clearly and consistently. The identification formats used are:
- "Partner" label next to commercial listings
- "Sponsored" label next to promoted content
- "Partner Content" indication on articles or pages produced in commercial collaboration
If no label is present, the content is independent editorial.
Editorial independence
The editorial team makes publishing decisions based on criteria of usefulness to the reader — not commercial criteria. This means:
- Commercial partners do not determine what is published editorially
- Water quality, Blue Flags and beach ratings are based on official sources — not commercial relationships
- Negative or neutral recommendations can coexist with active commercial partnerships in the same sector
- The editorial direction is autonomous from the portal's commercial decisions
Available partnership formats
Commercial presence opportunities on the portal include featured listings, partner pages, co-branding formats and inclusion in thematic guides. All formats are described in detail in our Media Kit.
Acceptance of a partner is subject to assessment of suitability within the portal's editorial context. We reserve the right to decline partnerships we consider incompatible with our values or the interests of our readers.
No pay-to-rank
Commercial presence does not affect search result ordering, beach listings or editorial recommendations.
No hidden content
No text or recommendation has an undisclosed commercial nature. The reader always knows what they are reading.
No unresolved conflicts of interest
When a commercial relationship exists with an entity covered editorially, this fact is declared.
Verified partners
Commercial partners are assessed before onboarding. Service quality is an acceptance criterion.
Questions or complaints: If you identify content that you consider incorrect, misleading or not properly identified as commercial, please contact us via the contact page. We respond to all editorial queries within 5 working days.