The President of the Republic said this Monday, in the Algarve, that it is necessary to “look ahead and fight” for tourism in the region to overcome the losses caused by the exclusion of Portugal from the air corridor with the United Kingdom.

“It is evident that everything is important, now 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 define positions 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.

The head of state spoke to journalists in Monte Gordo, Vila Real de Santo António, before a dinner with the mayors of the Algarve, and representatives of the Tourism Region and tourism business associations.

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

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also went 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 have been to Albufeira the other day now, I am here in Monte Gordo, I will be now over the course of several weeks, during the summer, running the Algarve whenever I have time to come and go back,” he declared

The presence of the head of state in the Algarve, including holidays, in the second half of August, also allows “to push for Portuguese tourism and for more foreign tourism”, because “it is fair and there is no reason for the Algarve, because of the covid-19, to be harmed , considered Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

“Now we have to look to the future and see how we can get around the text. The Algarve deserves it, 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 clear in the spirit of the Portuguese, on the one hand, and foreigners who have to come here and we have to recover ”, he added.

The meeting was an initiative of the President of the Republic and brought together the 15 of the 16 mayors of the district of Faro (Rosa Palma, president of the municipality of Silves, who was hit today by a fire, was not present).

The president of the Intermunicipal Community of the Algarve, António Miguel Pina, said that the dinner with the head of state intends to sensitize the authorities to “the reinforcement of diplomatic capacity and intensity with the English issue”, but “also with Ireland, who announced that until the 9th, 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 what the funds are to do more promotion of the destination and try to compensate the tourists who are lost from the United Kingdom with others from other parts of Europe”, such as Germany, France or Belgium, he exemplified.