Eight associations, linked to tourism, commerce and restaurants, got together this Thursday, 1st of July, to discuss «in a serious way, the problem that the Algarve is experiencing». The objective is, at a time that is once again one of restrictions due to the pandemic, “to take the measures and build on them solutions” that allow us to face a summer “which will be lame”.
This meeting took place at the end of yesterday afternoon, while the Council of Ministers was taking place, and was attended by representatives of ACRAL – Association of Commerce and Services of the Algarve Region, Association of Hotel and Similar Industries of the Algarve (AIHSA), Association Cultural and Activist of Baixa de Faro, Portuguese Hotels, Restaurants and Similar Association (AHRESP), PRO.VAR, Quarteira and Vilamoura Entrepreneurs Association, Cidade de Loulé Trade Association and Por Quarteira Entrepreneurs Association.
Speaking to journalists, at the end, Paulo Alentejano, president of ACRAL, said that the objective of this initiative is "to try to reconcile opinions so that we can have a joint position for the Algarve."
“A consensus point is that there has to be government investment in all areas. We realized that we are going to have a very lame summer, but we intend to take the region out of this panorama. We have to captivate people to come to the Algarve and try to make the season as bad as possible», he added.
It is true that the region is going "for the fourth consecutive winter" because the pandemic does not seem to slow down.
«In the past, we had a bad summer and we were already in a difficult situation. The winter was also complicated and now it seems that we are going to have another difficult time», said the official.
Also speaking to journalists, Daniel Alexandre do Adro, vice president of the AIHSA, explained that "although the Algarve is going through a situation that we did not want, we have to survive".
"In this context, we join together to be able to develop a secure value proposition, knowing that we are the destination par excellence," he said.
"The idea is to take the restriction measures and build on them: for example, in catering, to give the possibility to work, even with a defined schedule, receiving those who have the Covid-19 certificate," he added.
With a growing number of cases of Covid-19, the Government decreed the return of the mandatory curfew for 9 municipalities in the Algarve – most of them represent an important part of the number of tourists arriving in the region, such as Albufeira, Loulé, Olhão and Faro.
For Daniel Alexandre do Adro, these measures "are not good news, but our expectation is that it is a step back so that we can take two steps forward."
This meeting also left a request: «we would like to see mass vaccination throughout the country, but we believe that it would be relevant that the Algarve, as a prime destination for the Portuguese, already had a large part of service providers and the population in general. vaccinated, even for the security of the country as a whole».
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