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How Will the Algarve Respond to Turkey’s Offensive?
26 July 2018
João Fernandes, who will take his place as the president of the Algarve Tourism Region this Friday, stated that his projects for the region are designed to face “the adverse environment.”
Taking action to respond to fierce competition by rival tourism hotspots such as Turkey, which is affecting all destinations in southern Europe and the Mediterranean basin, is a part of the challenging job facing João Fernandes, who will become president of the Algarve Tourism Region (RTA) this Friday, July 27, for a five-year term. Mr Fernandes was previously the vice-president of the organisation and is replacing Desidério Silva in the position.
“We all knew that Turkey and Tunisia would rebuild sooner or later and that this would have impacts on the Algarve,” Mr Fernandes said. However, he noted the “resilience evidenced by an established destination like the Algarve, which could attract new demand.” “When we compare the Algarve’s performance with that of, for example, the Canary Islands, we see that the Algarve has come out ahead.”
Mr Fernandes also noted that 2018 has presented the Algarve with “an adverse international environment, mainly concerning the uncertainties associated with Brexit and its possible effect on British consumption.” These difficulties were in addition to the problems created “by the bankruptcies of Monarch, Niki and Air Berlin, which accounted for 10% of the passengers at Faro airport and linked to the United Kingdom and Germany.”
He recalled that “the Azores anticyclone also caused problems”, bringing widespread inclement weather that deterred visitors to a region commonly associated with the sun and sea. Finally, the fact that the World Cup was held this year, which inevitably affects travel plans worldwide, also contributed to “an atypical year.”
The new head of the tourism authority noted that, from January to May, overnight stays by international visitors to the Algarve decreased of 2.5% over the same period of last year, but that income in the period grew by 5.7%, according to the latest data from the National Statistics Institute (INE).
“The Algarve, despite everything, has grown in value, and this is our overarching goal for the year: to continue to grow in value, not so much in quantity,” the new head of the authority added.
Bring More Congresses, Sports Championships and Athlete Training Camps to the Algarve
João Fernandes is betting on “new demand, which already has a significant presence in the Algarve”, and although “people from all over the world are visiting because of this boom,” many are also coming from the same markets that traditionally come to the Algarve. New visitors are coming from the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, but their objectives are no longer confined to seaside resorts. Rather, they are going hiking, sightseeing and bird watching.
“We found that our products associated with nature tourism, culture, gastronomy and wine appeal to tourists coming from the same issuing markets, but with other motivations,” the executive said.
The new president of the Algarve Tourism Region proposes to “continue, and with behind the scenes work aimed at extending the range of options, to all products involving diversification of supply” in addition to the sun and beach, the segment directly affected by competition from other beach destinations such as Turkey.
Strengthening the demand by congresses and business events, in addition to sports tourism – especially, nautical sports – are other bets. “In the winter, we had more Olympic athletes in the Algarve for training than Rio de Janeiro. We had the British federation, which is the largest in the world, and this year we already had the world high seas sailing championship, which was a fabulous event in Lagos, in addition to the GC32 catamaran championship,” Mr Fernandes noted, arguing that the “Algarve has all the necessary conditions to attract more sporting events.”
The executive is also looking at working to upgrade the offer regarding hotels, restaurants and other tourist services, to “rejuvenate the image of the Algarve, which is a destination that is constantly competing [with other beach resorts] and must constantly think about how it presents itself to the potential tourists.”
Hoping for a Soft Brexit
The English, who continue to be the main tourist market for the Algarve, are at the forefront of priorities. “There is no doubt that the Algarve is not indifferent to the manner in which the United Kingdom leaves the European Union or the impact it will have on the British economy itself,” the tourism executive stated.
“I believe that there will be a soft Brexit,” Mr Fernandes said. This means that “for example, the liberalization of the airspace between the United Kingdom and other EU countries will not be called into question, that the double taxation agreements between Portugal and the United Kingdom (so that an English resident or a Portuguese emigrant in England does not pay taxes in both countries) will be maintained, and that the British will avoid becoming subject to EFTA immigration controls at the Faro airport, particularly at the passport level,” he said.
The Algarve ended 2017 with 19 million overnight stays, of which about 15 million were from abroad. However, as Mr Fernandes noted, the “demand resulted from an abnormally advantageous cycle.”
Is growth in the Algarve forecast for 2018? “It is natural that, with this situation, it will be a year of consolidation rather than one of growth,” João Fernandes concluded, noting that “with this level of uncertainty, we should avoid quantitative targets, rather working to make the needed results happen.”
Original Story: Jornal Expresso
Photo: Filipe Farinha / Stills
Translation: Richard Turner