Algarve Situation Report Wednesday 12th May 2021
Tourism – President of AHETA believes in a good summer but cannot make up for the losses of 2020.
The British government’s announcement on the green list of countries, where it is allowed to travel without restrictions, including Portugal, has led to a “rain” of reservations at hotels in the Algarve.
It is well known that the British have a predilection for our country and the proof of that is in sight. As confirmed by Elidérico Viegas – President of the Association of Hotels and Tourist Enterprises of the Algarve (AHETA), said “this is great news, because it results in enormous satisfaction for hoteliers and tourist entrepreneurs in the Algarve, with good expectations for this summer, since in addition to the domestic market, we will now have tourists from our largest supplier, the United Kingdom”. Despite the expected recovery, the representative of the association says that it will still not be a year equal to 2019, “but surely it will be a better year than 2020, since it will bring together Portuguese and foreign tourists”.
The President of AHETA recalls that the opportunity is to take advantage, “all of our competitors were left out of the “green map”, such as Spain, Greece and Turkey and this brings a competitive advantage to our region, even more at this stage”.
The good news was expected at any time, due to the efforts of the Portuguese in the last few months, but also due to the number of vaccinations carried out in Portugal, however, he says that it is necessary to continue the effort to control the pandemic, “reducing the cases of infection, with the rhythm of vaccinations on the rise, in a process that must advance as quickly as possible to achieve group immunity”.
On the possibility of this summer being able to compensate for the losses of last year, Elidérico Viegas speaks of an unlikely scenario: “I understand that in this matter, what has been lost is lost, it is worth remembering that we have been in deficit for a year and a half, we entered the late summer of 2019 in the low season, we caught the pandemic in March and we had more than a year of deficient management. We have good expectations for the tourist season this year, for example last year when the air corridors were opened 10 days, it resulted in a substantial increase in demand from the English, it is necessary that the agents involved in the tourism business, transporters, retailers , airline operators, among others, quickly prepare to respond to requests”.
Former Alderman of the Chamber of Loulé and President of the Junta de Almancil dies with Covid-19.
João Martins, former councillor of the Chamber of Loulé and President of the Almancil Parish Council, died this Tuesday, May 11, victim of Covid-19. He was 72 years old and was admitted to intensive care at Hospital de Faro.
The South Information, Vítor Aleixo, President of Loulé Câmara, lamented “deeply” the death of this former alderman, in the executive who led the council from 2013 to 2017.
“It is a very big loss that leaves us very dismayed,” he said.
The political trajectory of João Martins, who was a social security inspector, is directly linked to the parish of Almancil, where he held the positions of President of the Parish Assembly (from January 1990 to December 1993), executive secretary of the Parish Council de Almancil (from January 1994 to December 1997) and president of the Almancil Parish Council (from January 1998 to October 2013).
He was a founding partner and President of ASCA (Social and Cultural Association of Almancil) and chaired the 1st Congress of the Parish of Almancil (May 2004), the Organizing Committee for the Conventions of Portuguese Communities in the World and the Commission for the Commemorations of the 30th Anniversary of 25 de Abril, among other initiatives carried out in this Parish, namely as a member of the commission that chaired the creation of the coat of arms of the Parish of Almancil.
Covid-19: ACRAL survey finds that Algarve companies “can’t take” another summer equal to 2020.
Algarve businesspeople “can’t take another summer equal to 2020, with the pandemic “severely” affecting 8.8 out of 10 companies, reveals a survey released today by the Association of Commerce and Services of the Algarve Region (ACRAL).
Of the associates who responded to the survey with the theme “Impact on the local economy: effects caused by Covid-19”, the majority (92%) have micro-enterprises with “less than 10 workers” and 66.7% belong to commerce.
“If by chance, the summer of 2021 is equal to or worse than the summer of 2020, the winter season can be extremely dramatic for the future of the sustainability of companies in the Algarve”, warned the President of ACRAL, Paulo Alentejano, quoted in a statement association.
The same source asked the Government to adopt “different measures” that can “guarantee the survival of the Algarve’s business fabric and avoid a social crisis in the Algarve to the limit”, a region that has been strongly affected by restrictions on tourism.
“In view of the current situation, 88% of the companies responded that they were seriously affected by losses accumulated in the last months”, quantified ACRAL, stressing that the assessment made of the current situation is “very bad” and “70% of the respondents” felt “in 2021 a worsening of the situation”.
ACRAL pointed out as one of the reasons for the lack of confidence of these entrepreneurs “the sharp drop in revenues” due to the “low demand for products and services after confinement” caused by the “drastic” decline in demand.
“In accordance with the data obtained from the referred survey, it is concluded that 66.7% of the respondents correspond to companies in which commerce is the main activity, 16% relate to services and 16% to hotels and restaurants” reported the Algarve business association.
Regarding expectations for the next 12 months, “72% of respondents do not foresee any improvement” and, therefore, had to control costs, postpone or cancel investments or dismiss workers, a situation that implied an “increase in the dismissal rate” and unemployment in the region.
“Regarding the restrictions enacted by the Government, 97% of the respondents agree with the measures imposed in terms of health, however, their establishments have been seriously affected by the restrictions applied in their sectors of activity and, although a large percentage are aware of the support made available by the Government and having adhered to them, 94% consider that the State support is not corresponding to the needs”, said the ACRAL.
GNR arrested a 54-year-old man for drug trafficking yesterday in the Parque da Fronteira in Castro Marim.
According to a statement from that security force, it was through a patrolling action that the military verified the presence of a vehicle, “about 100 meters from the control point, in the direction of Spain – Portugal, which was standing at the side of the road, the driver having left it and showing suspicious behaviour “. As they approached the vehicle, the military found that the individual had two black bags in his possession, “which he tried to conceal outside the road.”
In the sequence, the same statement reads that the military approached the suspect and found that the bags contained a narcotic product inside, with the suspect trying to escape, “having been immediately arrested by the military”.
In the same action, 1,922 doses of cannabis were seized; 880 euros in cash; a vehicle and two mobile phones.
The detainee who was constituted accused is being present at the Faro Judicial Court, for the application of coercion measures.