https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.dw.com ... a-53412684With about 30 million tourists visiting Portugal every year, the sector is of huge importance for jobs and economic growth. Despite coronavirus fears, authorities are planning to reopen hotels and beaches by mid-June.
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 have been eased in the middle of June.
"Not as many as in previous years, but tourists will be coming back," Fernandes told DW. He added 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, who usually come to spend their holidays on Portugal's southern beaches are the sole key to ensuring the economic survival of the sparsely industrialized region.
Tourism is not only a money and jobs spinner for the Algarve, but for the whole of Portugal too, where 15% of gross domestic 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.