The Algarve's economy needs the British and the British need the Algarve sun. The pandemic led to a separation between them, but today, May 17, there was a reunion. With the lifting of restrictions on non-essential travel, there was a "rush" for reservations and many of the 5500 seats available, this Monday, on flights from the UK to the airport. Faro, were busy.
Upon arrival, British tourists were welcomed by João Fernandes, president of Algarve Tourism, who sees this opening of air corridors as "a very important sign", as "we are a region particularly plagued by unemployment, given its dependence on the tourism sector. tourism".
According to the official, the arrival of the British, in addition to being noticed in hotel reservations, is also already noticed in employment centers.
«We can already see, with this demand, the recruitment of many people who were unemployed», he praised.
With regard to hotel units, in addition to the tree already registered this week, João Fernandes foresees that, between 25th May and 6th June, there will be a «great presence of British tourists due to the half term [school break]». During this period, the number of seats made available by airlines will also increase.
Portugal is one of the few destinations included in the British “green list”, that is, it does not require travelers to quarantine on their return to the United Kingdom. Competing countries such as Spain, Italy or Greece are not yet part of this group.
For this reason, João Fernandes admitted that the region is facing an "opportunity" to retain tourists.
“We have people who come because they had no other alternative. They are tourists who, at the outset, would not come to the Algarve. But we also have tourists who had already come, 10 or more years ago, and are now returning, and we also have those who come regularly and who just hadn't come before, because they didn't have that opportunity», he stressed.
This is the case of Eugene and Gabi, who have been traveling to the Algarve for 20 years, «because we have our friends here». Prevented from spending the winter in Alvor, where they have a house, they arrived this Monday for a period of “75 days. It's almost the whole summer», they revealed.
Tracy and Jerry, who traveled from Manchester, are not newcomers to the Algarve either, and when they found out they could travel, they did not hesitate: «On Friday we booked the flight, hotel and test».
The couple will stay in Vilamoura until next Sunday, but they know they will be back soon: «In July, we'll be back. It was the trip we had booked last year and it was canceled and we ended up going to Italy».
John and Stephanie also traveled from Manchester to the Algarve and also saw, in 2020, the pandemic cancel their travel plans to the region. They ended up going to Greece.
Now, their destination is Albufeira, where they will stay for five nights. «After hearing the countries announced by Boris Johnson, only Portugal had the sun, which makes it a holiday destination for us. So, we made the reservation right away».
John had already come to Portugal, on a bachelor party, but, he joked, he doesn't remember 'anything. I don't think I even saw the beach, I don't even think I went out during the day».
Upon returning to the UK, all these tourists will have to test negative to Covid-19. To help them, Turismo do Algarve sent a «communication to the accommodations to try to establish agreements with the laboratories so that the samples can be taken in the accommodation itself, scheduled at the time of check-in or a little later», said João Fernandes.
«We also asked the Regional Health Administration to make us a list with all the points where it is possible to carry out these tests» to Covid-19, said João Fernandes.
The list includes 126 points in the Algarve and was disclosed to airlines, accommodation and tourist companies.
There will also be a drive thru, at the airport of Faro, so that those who have not taken the test can do so before boarding. Still, this is the last resort.
With the arrival of more and more tourists to the Algarve from other countries, adding to the national market that was the main “customer” in 2020, João Fernandes' prospects for the summer of 2021 are «good».
But there are also good indicators for the last quarter of the year. «The Algarve already has very high reserves due to the high golf season. These are very positive indicators», he concluded.
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