The Algarve is expecting visitor numbers this summer to approach pre-Covid levels, following Portugal’s inclusion on the UK’s green list.
Speaking to Travel Weekly in Faro, Daniel Alexandre do Adro, vice president of the Algarve Tourism Bureau, said the region was in a good position to make up for a “lost year” in 2020.
He said: “We are off to a strong start and the numbers for June could very much be close to the numbers pre-Covid — if not exceeding.
“Predictions for July and the following months are challenging, but the expectations, at this point, would be to end the summer within 20% of the pre-Covid years.”
Last year, UK visitor numbers – which normally represent half of all airport arrivals to the region – fell 85% compared to 2019, with overall international arrivals dropping 74%.
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Alexandre do Adro said 2020 “was a lost year”, but said: “This year, being one of the few markets open to travel [from the UK], we have a unique opportunity to attract first-timers who might have normally booked other European destinations.
“It also gives the country unprecedented exposure, which we believe will benefit us post-Covid.”
He said that demand for the region had “exploded” when it was announced Portugal was on the UK’s green list and that “some of the hotels actually had to close sales.”
But although demand was likely to be “very, very high”, he said the focus would be on keeping the Algarve’s “good, balanced experience. It has never been the type of destination where the ideal is to be completely packed, and we don’t want that to change.”
Adro added that the region was ahead of the rest of the country in the vaccination programme, and that the current expectation is for everyone over the age of 30 in the region to have been vaccinated “by the end of June.”
“So by the summer I think most of the people working in the tourism industry will have been vaccinated, which gives us additional confidence that the summer season will be a success,” he said.
“We have the responsibility to show that, even under these uncommon circumstances, health and safety measures can be adopted in such a manner that safe travel is possible for all — tourists and locals.”
The Algarve has reported 22,025 Covid cases in total and 362 deaths (less than 0.03% of the country’s total).
Portugal is currently under a ‘State of Calamity’, expected to end on May 30.
Rules in place include a maximum of six inside and 10 outside, face coverings indoors and outside in crowded places, and a 10.30pm closing time for bars and restaurants.
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