The Hotel Association of Portugal (AHP) wants the Algarve to have priority in the vaccination plan for Covid-19 in order to guarantee a «rapid resumption of tourist activity and the maintenance of companies and jobs». This proposal has already been delivered to the task force.
According to AHP, «the vaccination plan for Covid-19 should define the population of the Algarve as a priority group, taking into account that it is the main tourist destination in the country, responsible for about 33% of overnight stays by foreigners in Portugal and global income in excess of 1200 million euros (INE data for 2019)».
«The advance in the vaccination of residents and tourism professionals in the Portuguese region most visited by nationals and internationals will certainly have a positive impact on demand, allowing to accelerate the recovery of the region's activity and economy, which is fundamentally based on tourism: there are thousands of companies and jobs that depend on it», says Raul Martins, president of AHP.
«Our proposal goes further, because, as the main tourist region in the country, especially in summer, it is important to ensure the safety and protection of the entire population as soon as possible, on the one hand, and to assert the Algarve in the face of competition with others destinations, which is fierce, as a safe destination», guarantees Raul Martins.
In the opinion of the official, «vaccination in this region of the country is relatively late and what is required is reinforcement and acceleration, which seems simple and with quick results, given that the population of the Algarve is only around 400 people ».
According to Eurostat data released last month, the Algarve was the Portuguese region with the highest unemployment rate in 2020, reaching 8,4%, followed by Madeira and the Lisbon Metropolitan Area.
Also the Observatory of Inequalities, which recently published the study “Unemployment in 2020 – Impacts of the Pandemic, Mappings and Reflections”, indicates that the Algarve “is the region of the country where the pandemic is having an absolutely disproportionate impact, explained to a large extent due to the fact that the region is highly dependent on tourist activity, with particular emphasis on the municipality of Albufeira».
For the rest, AHP gives the example of Madeira, which recently started the vaccination process for tourism professionals, which should be completed by the end of this month, like other destinations such as Greece and Mauritius that have defined these professionals as priorities in their plans to restart tourist activity quickly and in the safest conditions.
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