The president of the Algarve Tourist Board has met key partners from the regional tourism industry to “jointly analyse the challenges facing the Algarve with exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union."
The British are Portugal’s biggest tourist group accounting for 70% of the 8.3 million annual overnight stays in registered accommodation - and an equivalent percentage of the nights spent in unlicensed accommodation.
The Algarve's tourism chiefs are keen that the Brexit, should it finally be achieved, will not disturb the current good growth in the region’s tourist numbers and this means keeping the British coming, despite the current adverse exchange rate and the as yet unkown ramifications of the Brexit.
The money is significant with the Brits spending €1.5 billion in the Algarve each year. The tourist board wants this to rise, not fall and has decided to “strengthen the promotion in the UK of the Algarve as destination in order to maintain and consolidate the flow of tourists from the United Kingdom.”
The tourist board also wants to continue to appeal to source markets other than the UK while at the same time wanting to “intensify bilateral relations with the British community living in the Algarve, to strengthen the relationship of trust that has been a reality since tourism started in the Algarve.”
The Socialist MPs António Eusébi and Fernando Anastácio, already have met with the British vice-consul, Clive Jewell, and have been assured the that the British community is far from being ruffled by the goings-on in Westminster.
The meeting looked at the issues raised by the decision of a majority of voters in Britain to leave the European Union and the particular concerns of the British community in the Algarve.
The British Ambassador to Portugal, Kirsty Hayes, is to visit the region on July 12th to host two meetings, one in São Brás de Alportel at 13:00 and the other in Lagos at 18:00, to discuss the Brexit fallout and to hear concerns and observations from expatriate Britons.
Bookings for these sessions can be made at:
https://form.jotform.com/61864551221957
