According to the Association of Hotels and Tourist Enterprises of the Algarve (AHETA), the effect of the pandemic caused by the new coronavirus “started to affect tourism as of the month of March”, which translated into a drop, in accumulated terms since the beginning of the year, 42.7 percent compared to the same period of 2019.

"The accommodation units started to close at the beginning of March, and in April only 11 percent of the beds were in operation", informed the association in the summary of the monthly evolution of the sector's activity.

According to AHETA, “at the moment, about 60 percent of the offer is expected to reopen during the month of June and 12 percent in the month of July, but about 25 percent has no expected date of reopening, or that date is later than September this year”.