The Portuguese are booking more holiday travel this Easter, according to travel booking agencies.
Foreign destinations have taken off after years of slow bookings with Brazil, the Caribbean, Miami and New York top of the international preferences.
As for holidays within Portugal, the Algarve, Madeira, the Açores are popular with mainland destinations led by Serra da Estrela, Douro and the Alentejo.
The booking patterns have been noted by Abreu, the largest of Portugal’s holiday booking agencies, and have been confirmed by Go4Travel.
Numbers certainly are up, according to Vítor Filipe from Go4Travel "Reservations have been quite high and we believe they will be higher than last year. Proof of this is the fact that some of the destinations are almost sold out, such as Cape Verde, and for others, such as Disney we have had difficulty booking for certain dates."
As for Abreu, "Cape Verde is sold out and we have nearly run out of destinations such as the Northeast of Brazil, the Caribbean, Miami and New York," with the company optimistic about the small but evident increase in sales over the same period last year.
As for foreigners choosing Portugal for their easter and summer breaks, bookings are up by over 30% from last year, as they are for Spain, reflecting concerns over safety in other short-haul destinations.
