Four British airports have flights departing to the Algarve. With the announcement of the resumption of flights from the United Kingdom, online bookings skyrocketed between 30 and 40%.
This Monday, Portugal will receive tourists from countries with a low incidence of Covid-19. Everyone is required to pass a negative test on arrival, whether by plane or boat.
With five and a half thousand British tourists arriving this Monday in the Algarve, on the first day of the resumption of non-essential flights with the United Kingdom, the region begins to breathe with relief.
Even so, businessmen are unanimous in criticisng the restriction of opening hours, arguing that closing the establishments at 10:30 pm does not make sense.
Tourists will be welcomed by the Algarve Tourism Association with a welcome kit.
It will hardly be a summer like 2019, but with the possibility of receiving British tourists again, the scenario in the Algarve is much more encouraging than last year.
The British Government had already given the green light for the British to travel to Portugal, but the Portuguese government's favorable decision came early Friday afternoon. The delay in the response had little impact on the reservations that had already been made.
The preference is for the summer months, but the demand for the Algarve in May has been greater than expected.
"Since they are faced with the impossibility of being able to travel to more direct competing destinations, such as Spain, Turkey, Greece, etc., they will tend to choose to come to the region", said Elidérico Viegas, President of the Association of Hotels and Tourist Enterprises of the Algarve.
Original article available in Portuguese at http://postal.pt/
Comments
That damn fine print… guess I will have to return that bacon and eggs I sneaked out in my pocket this morning! Maybe that will stop the stray dogs from following me as well?
All one big marketing exercise. The Portuguese are extremely good at stealth marketing the country, as well as 'pay for play' 'news', articles in various journals, as readily admitted by the head of Portugals tourist board following his recent resignation. Nothing wrong with being good at something, but harping on about history, culture and traditions as to why people visit is simply being disingenuous.
Sneaking? In their minds they have paid for all you can eat... doesn't state where you have to eat it! Same with the sun loungers, bring out those towels at 2.00am while finishing up your breakfast pastry as a late night snack!
Lost track of how many times I have seen Dutch and Germans sneaking food from the breakfast buffet to make a free lunch.
No satisfying some people.
She said she’d missed British people so much in the last year - adding "they’re vital to the Algarve, you have been for so long".
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It's a poor reflection on the Government of Portugal past and present, that people in one of It's region's believes that, if the citizens of one country (UK) fail to arrive for their holidays, that there will be a disaster! ... surely this is not what the woman is suggesting, after all there are a lot of different nationalities that arrive here for their holidays and retirement.
"The sun shone through the plane windows the whole journey all the way up to touch down in Faro.
It was as smooth and simple an arrival as you could hope for when on your holidays or a work trip.
We queued for all of five minutes at passport control. Passport checked and stamped - and our Covid certificates checked. That was a relief as we didn’t know what to expect with Covid test checks.
By the time we were at the carousel our luggage was there and we were on our way outside into the 27C sun (sorry - I know the weather is grim today in the UK).
Joana was one of those working in the car park. She was so happy to meet us.
She said she’d missed British people so much in the last year - adding "they’re vital to the Algarve, you have been for so long".
Portugal handled our arrival well. But remember, numbers coming in today are tiny by comparison with previous summers. How it’ll handle real volumes or tourists with tests and paperwork no-one knows yet. But a solid start on day one."