Written By: Haley George

Edited by: Caroline Eifert

Photo By: Rachel Hopkins

In five different languages, Diago greets tourists visiting Porto, Portugal from around the world. He stands under a red tent by the Douro River and wears a matching red shirt. As a tourism ticket office employee, he loves getting to talk with people and interact with others for a living.

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“It’s never the same person twice,” Diago says with a laugh, contrasting the tourism industry to his previous job as a delivery man. He found that work to be boring, mundane, and incredibly lonely.

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His new career is one that he really enjoys and hopes to stay in for a while. Diago has lived in Porto his whole life and says he has never considered moving. Not only is the tourism industry very social, but, according to Diago, tourism in Porto has exploded in recent years. He said a few years ago, he would only talk with, “20 people per day, now 20 per half hour.” The flourishing tourism industry in Porto, and throughout the rest of the nation, has people involved in the tourism sector reconsidering plans to move from the nation, or change career path.

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Diago went to college to study electronics but has found tourism to be much more intriguing. Along with meeting diverse people, Diago has also learned new skills, most significantly, languages. Today, Diago is proficient in Spanish, Portuguese, English, French, and is working on his Italian. At 31, Diago has plenty of years ahead of him. And as of now, his future is in Portugal helping progress the robust tourism industry.