“It is evident that everything is important now and we have to look ahead and we have to fight, first, for tourism that comes from other interesting and important origins, that may come and that will be defined in the coming days. And then the British Government itself said it would rethink in July, let’s see what can be done about this matter”, said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

“[It is necessary] for the Algarve to pull through fast, so that we can produce effects later this year” in tourism, said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who met mayors and tourism representatives to try to help the Algarve to overcome the difficulties caused by Covid-19 and the UK’s decision to force the British to quarantine 14 days on arrival from Portugal.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also stated that he wanted to personally go as far as possible to help tourism in the Algarve to carry out “campaigns for Portuguese tourism” and announced his return to the region.


“I went to Albufeira the other day and now I am here in Monte Gordo, I will be now returning to the Algarve repeatedly over the course of several weeks,” he declared.


The presence of the head of state in the Algarve, including for his holidays has been designed “to push for Portuguese tourism and for more foreign tourism”, because “it is fair and there is no reason for the Algarve, because of Covid-19, to be harmed”, said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.


“Now we have to look to the future. The Algarve deserves it because it has exceptional quality, it has a public health situation that is, even compared to other regions and countries, of quality, now it needs to be the choice of the Portuguese and also of foreigners who have to come here to allow the region to recover”, he added.


The president of the Intermunicipal Community of the Algarve, António Miguel Pina, said that the meeting with the head of state was intended to sensitise the authorities to “the reinforcement of diplomatic capacity and intensity with the English issue”, but “also with Ireland, who announced that it will present a list and it is necessary that the Algarve be considered a safe destination”.


For António Manuel Pina, it is also necessary to “intensify the funds to do more promotion of the destination and try to compensate the loss of tourists from the United Kingdom with others from other parts of Europe”, such as Germany, France or Belgium, he exemplified.
Portugal has been excluded from international travel corridors with tourist destinations to which the British Government authorises British citizens to travel without having to comply with a 14-day quarantine period on their return to the country.


Meanwhile, the government is also preparing a specific programme to support the Algarve.


The Minister of Economy said on 7 July that the government is preparing a specific programme to support the Algarve region.
“It is necessary to pay special attention to the region of the Algarve, which is extremely dependent on tourism”, said the Minister of State, Economy and Digital Transition, Pedro Siza Vieira, before the deputies of the Economy, Innovation Commission, Public Works and Housing, in the Assembly of the Republic.


According to the Minister of Economy, this programme must be “much more decisive in order to help companies to survive”, it should boost internal and external demand and help the tourism sector in the Algarve region to survive until next summer.


Another component of the specific programme for the Algarve, he said, must also be that of “mitigating the very negative impact” on the income of people in the region.


“Tourism across the European Union is a very relevant activity. The European Union estimated a month and a half ago that tourist activity in the Union had a reduction of 60 percent. What we are experiencing in the Algarve or Madeira region is not a specific Portuguese problem”, he stressed.


“The European Union recognises that heavily reliant tourist regions need specific support. They may have been spared the pandemic, but they will be devastated from an economic point of view,” he added.
The Economy Minister did not put forward a date for the presentation of the programme, but said it would be soon.