The president of the Association of Hotels and Tourist Enterprises of the Algarve (AHETA), Hélder Martins, said that Easter “benefits a lot from the Spanish market”, but underlined that the UK market is “preponderant” in the Algarve, to which must be added the French and Dutch, among other new markets, such as the north -American, which is on an upward trend, despite there being no direct flights to the Algarve.

According to the leader of the largest hotel association in the region, these tourists from north America have arrived in the region even in low season, coming to Portugal through Seville and Lisbon airports, however, he considered, it is important to consolidate this market, so that it can grow further.

“It's not a market that comes and goes the next day. It is evident that for this market to consolidate, and it is an extremely important market, it is necessary to have flights and there are no flights, for the time being”, from Faro airport concluded Hélder Martins.

According to the president of Turismo do Algarve, reservations for Easter this year present “a component of greater stability” in relation to the percentage of reservations paid in advance.

According to João Fernandes, around 30% of reservations for the Algarve are being paid in advance, and there is also a greater balance between reservations made directly by the tourist and reservations with intermediation, namely through travel agencies.

“Everything points to another year of records, but what tourism never tires of saying is that we are optimistic, but cautious, because obviously there is great instability at an international level and some expectations may be frustrated due to external factors”, he concluded.