Portugal pins economic hopes on early reopening of tourism

May 12, 2020

According to Portugal’s tourism officials, there’s light at the end of the tunnel for the country’s travel sector and hundreds of thousands of employees in the industry.

Joao Fernandes, head of the Algarve regional tourism board, is absolutely convinced sun- and beach-seeking travelers from abroad will return to the country’s prominent tourism hot spot once virus restrictions will have been eased in the middle of June.

“Not as many as in previous years, but tourists will be coming back,” Fernandes told DW, adding that domestic tourism officials and tour operators from abroad were already working on contingency plans to ensure “everything will be safe for them” amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Raising optimism in the Algarve travel industry is desperately needed because the 20 million visitors, some 15 million from abroad that usually come to spend their holidays on Portugal’s southern beaches alone are ensuring the economic survival of the sparsely industrialized region.

But tourism is not only a money and jobs spinner for the Algarve, but for the whole of Portugal too, where 15% of gross national product (GDP) is created by the industry. Total visitor numbers have been growing steadily in recent years, supporting the country’s recovery from the 2008/2009 financial crisis, which brought Portugal to the brink of collapse.

Daniela Tome of Magnificat Tours Portugal

For Daniela Tome from Magnificat Tours Portugal, 2020 will be a year of big losses

The national statistics office INE has estimated that a drop in tourism by a quarter would wipe out annual growth to the tune of 2.9% — a conservative estimate, some analysts say, who are expecting a slump in GDP by as much as 6% under such a scenario.

Lockdown hitting hard

Portugal’s sweeping lockdown measures imposed in mid-March are already sending shockwaves through the industry, which employs around 400,000 people in close to 100,000 mostly small and medium-sized businesses.

“We’ve come to a complete standstill,” says Daniela Tome, head of the Magnificat Tours travel agency. A special operator for individual tours and travel groups, she was forced to cut working hours for her staff and has canceled contracts with freelance guides and smaller firms she used to work with.

Magnificat Tours’s prime business is to offer travel packages to the Fatima pilgrimage site in central Portugal, where a huge festival on May 13 usually draws hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

This year, the festival has been canceled, meaning her income to be derived from the event in 2020 “all but collapsed,” Daniela Tome told DW. “We expect business [from tours to the site] to pick up in autumn at best, but probably no earlier than next year,” she says.

Planning the ‘return to normal‘

As the Portuguese government has announced the gradual easing of anti-coronavirus policies, including reopening hotels and restaurants in June, thousands of business owners are hoping and praying that the tourists will be convinced by the safety measures prepared by the industry.

State-run tourism agency Turismo de Portugal has introduced a hygiene label to be awarded to those operators meeting government-controlled standards.

“We are also working on a special manual for the tourism industry which will make sure distancing rules and other requirements are observed,” says Joao Fernandes from the Algarve tourism board. In addition, the board is planning to hand out a special traveler’s pass allowing visitors to get tested for COVID-19 even before they begin their holidays.

Despite all the efforts, many issues remain unresolved, including a timetable for reopening Portugal’s beaches and how tourists will be able to obey distancing rules there. What’s also still unclear is how many people are allowed to travel in rental cars and boats, and who is going to control all the measures planned to be taken.

Fatima in Portugal

The Fatima pilgrimage site in Portugal has been closed for tourists amid the COVID-19 scare

Self-discipline and personal responsibility

“We cannot and will not watch every tourist with their own personal police officers on the beach,” Fernandes argues, insisting that all the government can do is “appeal to people’s sense of responsibility” in observing the rules.

Informing people about coronavirus risks and responsible individual behavior have so far proven successful in containing the outbreak in Portugal, he stresses, where only about 1,000 people have died — just a dozen of them in the Algarve holiday region.

Despite the government warning easing measures could be taken back swiftly in view of a second wave of infections, the tourism official claims Portugal is “ready for a summer of tourism.”

Travel agent Daniela Tome, however, is skeptical about a return to normality in the travel business as early as June. “People on vacation tend to be less inclined to obey the rules and sometimes go off the rails,” she says, and fears a massive influx of holidaymakers from abroad will undo the country’s progress in fighting the pandemic, and “lead into a new catastrophe.”

But both the fears and the hopes in Portugal’s travel industry might turn out to be overblown. As hotels are gradually reopening and foreign bookings for the main holiday season, July and August, are slowly rising, the government in Lisbon has called on the Portuguese to spend their holidays in their own country to soften the blow from fewer foreign arrivals.

For the time being, they have no other choice anyway, because Portugal’s borders will remain closed for at least until May 14, with flights abroad limited to an absolute minimum.

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Welcome back!

Shops across Europe were forced to close their doors to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including this fashion store on Makarios Avenue in downtown Nicosia, Cyprus. A stay-at-home order had been in place on the island since late March. On May 4 President Nicos Anastasiades allowed construction sites and small retail stores to open again. People should be able to move freely again on May 21.

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Beach days are back

People in Portugal are now able to enjoy strolling along the beach again. Under the country’s state of emergency, which was introduced on March 18, beaches were shut, along with non-essential businesses and restaurants. People were still able to go outdoors and exercise, but now have more freedom to go to shops and hairdressers. However, face masks are still required in closed spaces.

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Time for a trim

Hairdressers were also allowed to reopen in Greece on May 4, including this salon in Athens. Other businesses to open up after a six-week lockdown include florists, bookstores and other small stores. Restaurants and bars will have to wait until the end of the month. Greeks can also leave their homes without needing a form stating their reason, but face masks are mandatory in public transport.

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Face mask to ride

Rules requiring face masks on public transport are now commonplace throughout Europe. In Hungary’s capital Budapest, transport workers were offering travelers masks at Nyugati Square. Budapest remains under stricter restrictions than the rest of the country. Other cities can begin to open up some stores, museums and public spaces.

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Out and about

Public spaces in Spain had been deserted. For 48 days residents were not allowed to leave their homes except for food, medical reasons, or to walk the dog. Restrictions and social distancing rules are still strict, but people are finally able to go out for exercise. People in the capital Madrid pounced on the opportunity.

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Back to work

Italy was also under an extremely strict lockdown, with people only allowed to go out for very limited reasons. But on May 4 it slowly began to allow some people to return to work, under social distancing conditions. Workers at a shoe factory in Castelnuovo Vomano, in Teramo province, have to work wearing face masks and separated by plastic screens. Construction workers can also return to sites.

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Paying respects

The lifting of restrictions in Italy also allows up to 15 people to attend a funeral, albeit while wearing masks. During its lockdown, Italy banned funerals to stop the spread of COVID-19, which denied many people the chance to say goodbye to loved ones.

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School’s in

Austria is making sure 100,000 final-year students are able to return to school before their leavers’ exams. Teachers like Richard Fischer in Vienna handed out medical face masks to students before the start of lessons. The country is also allowing people to visit relatives in care homes again. Small shops and other businesses were already allowed to reopen on April 14.

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Up and running

In Germany professional footballers have been in training, despite competitions currently being suspended. Like other clubs, Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich have been putting their players through their paces, albeit only in small groups. The Bundesliga is targeting May 15 to restart, the first major European league to do so. Fans won’t be allowed into stadiums, however.

Author: Alex Matthews