The director of Visit Portugal is hopeful that the country’s inbound tourism market will remain “stable” and hailed the importance of the UK and other ‘proximity markets’ in the recovery from Covid.
Claudia Miguel told Travel Weekly’s Future of Travel conference that Portugal’s top markets in terms of visitors were Spain, France, the UK and Germany, but in terms of bed nights the UK remained number one, ahead of Spain and France.
She said “for Madeira, the prospects are really good – not only from the UK but from other markets as well” adding: “Visit Madeira has been working on diversification with other countries than the UK and Germany. The island does need to spread the inbound markets into Madeira.”
The UK was the number one source market for Madeira and the Algarve up until the end of July. Miguel said: “We can see how important this market is for us, everything that happens [in the UK] has a major effect – especially to the Algarve and Madeira.”
Madeira, she said, has been Portugal tourism’s “star” during Covid, adding: “If all continues as it is, Madeira will surpass guests received and bed nights from 2019 – so it’s going pretty well. Madeira has been very stable.”
Miguel said it was “not surprising” that capital city Lisbon, on the mainland, has been the most affected Portuguese destination in terms of tourism, saying: “It hasn’t up to now been able to have anything.”
But she said areas of central Portugal such as Alentejo, where the recent Evora Forum was held, was “going very well” adding: “We are hoping things remain stable.”
As well as the UK market, she noted Spain was “very important” for Portuguese tourism, especially in terms of weekend visitors.
Miguel noted: “Ten years ago we shifted to looking long-haul for other markets, like Brazil, the US and the Far East. Now, we are relying on the proximity markets more.”
She explained the difficulties the country and its islands face in being placed – at different stages – on all three of the UK’s red, amber and green lists.
Noting that Portugal has “pretty much had the same cycles as the UK” in terms of infection rates, and that upwards of 80% of the population were double-jabbed, Miguel said the summer season had been “quite impressive” despite “many ups and downs”.
She said the Portuguese government was continuing with financial support for its tourism economy to keep companies trading and jobs alive. She said: “Businesses ae opening and we don’t foresee hotels closing for the winter,” especially in the Azores and Madeira.
Asked about how different EU countries have interpreted the EU guidance on travel restrictions, Miguel said: “There are some countries where it’s really easy to understand the restrictions, like Greece and Slovenia.
“This is an issue for all of us and it will remain for the foreseeable future. Every day customers say it’s complicated to understand. They don’t keep up with the changes. This is everyday life and I think it will continue if uncertainty continues.”
Sri Lanka’s high commissioner to the UK, Siroja Sirisena, was asked when she might expect tourism to return to the country in volume.
Speaking before it was removed from the UK government’s red list and the UK Foreign Office relaxed its advice against non-essential travel to Sri Lanka, she said: “Maybe we can capture the Christmas season, that’s realistic. The vaccination numbers are coming down. October should be very stable, and that should lead towards easing in restrictions in Sri Lanka.”
Sirisena said there was a good number of 2022 bookings to Sri Lanka from other countries, noting Russia as an example, but at the time of the conference said this was “not from the UK, because we are on the red list”.