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Established in the city of the Porto in the year of 1840, Viagens Abreu is the world’s oldest travel agency, as well as the largest travel organization in Portugal. The current headquarters remains in Porto, with the main office in Linda–a–Velha, a suburb of Lisbon, in a spacious and modern office building. Abreu has offices throughout Portugal, with over 70 retail locations in the main cities and towns. A steady growth in the Portuguese market lead to the expansion of the company to international locations, with the opening of companies in Brazil, Spain, England and the United States.
A Brief History
The Abreu Agency was established in Porto in 1840, by Mr. Bernardo Abreu. Five generations later the company is still owned by the same family and their direct descendants. At the time, emigration from northern Portugal and Galicia to Brazil and Venezuela was significant, and Mr. Abreu, a noted businessman in Porto, opened his agency to offer passport and visa services, as well as sales of train tickets to Lisbon and ship passages to/from South America. Thus the oldest travel agency of the world was created from the close ties Portugal and Brazil still enjoy. After the Second World War, as the growth of commercial aviation shortened the distances between continents and international tourism expanded, Abreu to developed into its current modern multi-national organization. Today, with the support of the most advanced technologies, and with a distribution network that covers the main urban centers of Portugal, and with strong presence in the international market, Abreu faces the challenges of the future with the same determination that helped construct its past.
