“Of course the British market worries us because it is one of our main markets," said Ana Mendes Godinho, the secretary of state for tourism when questioned about the sharp decline in UK visitors to Portugal, especially to the Algarve.
Turismo de Portugal and Godinho launched a plan in June to ‘combat seasonality’ in the Algarve and Madeira, an initiative that Godinho explained is a, "very tactical" marketing campaign, with the aim of strengthening Portugal's presence in the United Kingdom, as well as in other key markets markets but this will not fill the empty summertime hotel beds.
The British market has been falling since October 2017 due to fears stirred up by Brexit and to the slide of the pound against the euro yet hotel prices in the Algarve have been rising steadily as have bar, restaurant and cafe prices in tourist areas.
Britons have been opting for economical destinations such as Tunisia, Turkey and Egypt now that the security problems have abated.
Airline capacity has fallen with the collapse of Monarch , Niki and airberlin and this summer’s good weather started late in the year. Airline ticket prices have risen too with family members each paying £200 to £400 just to get to Portugal and back in the summer months.
Elidérico Viegas, president of the Algarve’s hoteliers’ association, voices concern that by 2017, British numbers already were down 8.5%, roughly 82,000 tourists, with the trend continuing through 2018 as seen by the end of June figures showing a further drop of 9.2%.
These are figures of Britons booking in the Algarve’s hotels and Viegas knows that the short-term tourist rental market, or Alojamento Local, is taking huge chunks out of his members’ tills – it’s not just Brexit and the euro, it’s Airbnb and booking.com that is causing fear along the marble corridors of the Algarve’s top hotels.
Elidérico Viegas says that it necessary to run promotions that are, "smart and developed in partnership with the private sector," since, he stresses, "concentrating spend on traditional tour operators does not seem to be the correct strategy," because "these operators are more focused on returning to destinations where they have large investments and that have unbeatable prices."
Viegas says that advertising spend should be focussed on 'independent travellers' using online channels and direct marketing because in the Algarve most holidays are booked online.
