- Title: Portugal's tourism industry hurting over exclusion from UK travel list
- Date: 4th July 2020
- Summary: LISBON, PORTUGAL (JULY 4, 2020) (REUTERS) ROSSIO SQUARE, TRAFFIC PASSING BOARD ADVERTISING WALKING TOURS / TOUR GUIDE TOUR GUIDE NINATA SPEAKING TO TOURISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOUR GUIDE, NINATA (NO SURNAME GIVEN), SAYING: "I'm obviously not really happy about it. I can understand the reasons behind it but obviously, it impacts us in a really bad way." NINATA SPEAKING TO TOURISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOUR GUIDE, NINATA (NO SURNAME GIVEN), SAYING: "Don't be scared! Lisbon is amazing and now you can enjoy it even more without the crowds on the streets, so as a tourist I think it's a great time to visit Lisbon." NINATA SPEAKING TO TOURISTS CASCAIS, PORTUGAL (JULY 4, 2020) (REUTERS) DRIVEWAY OF MARTINHAL RESORTS MARTINHAL RESORTS SIGN AT ENTRANCE EMPTY POOL AND CHILDREN'S PLAYGROUND RESORT RESTAURANT CHITRA STERN, MARTINHAL RESIDENCES CEO, WALKING INTO RESTAURANT / SPEAKING WITH EMPLOYEES (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARTINHAL RESIDENCES CEO, CHITRA STERN, SAYING: "As a Brit, yes, safety for the country is important, but as a Brit, I'm also questioning, we are opening the pubs in the UK now but not letting people go to Portugal. Things like that I find hard." STERN SPEAKING TO COSTUMERS EMPLOYEE AND STERN TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARTINHAL RESIDENCES CEO, CHITRA STERN, SAYING: "What's going to happen when you open the pubs up? Is it going to be clean and safe like it is here? In which case, you will expect an increase in the number of cases. These are the things I find more difficult to sort of place, to put into a box and understand. But I'm not running the country and I'm not in government, so you know? I'm a poor little entrepreneur out here in Portugal" RESTAURANT LISBON, PORTUGAL (JULY 4, 2020) (REUTERS) EMPTY RESTAURANT TERRACE RESTAURANT MENU / EMPTY TABLES AND SEATS MENU IN ENGLISH (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) RESTAURANT OWNER, ARMANDO BATISTA, SAYING: "I think they are being a little too strict with us. I hope they rectify it, because otherwise we're in a bad way, a really bad way." SEAFOOD ON DISPLAY IN RESTAURANT WINDOW OYSTERS EMPTY RESTAURANT TERRACE INTERIOR OF IRISH PUB POSTER ADVERTISING GUINNESS BEER PUB INTERIOR (SOUNDBITE) (English) IRISH PUB OWNER, CONNOR GILLEN, SAYING: "I think the decision is probably not based on sound facts and figures. Portugal's been quite honest about what they've been up to and what's going on here and we knew there would be some surge after lockdown, but this is the same everywhere. Are the figures really affecting the country? I mean, do we see it? No! I have over 50 people working for me, and we don't see it. Everybody takes care, we follow the rules and regulations that have been set out by the government." PUB INTERIOR POSTER READING (English and Portuguese) "Mandatory use of mask" PUB EXTERIOR/ TRAFFIC
- Embargoed: 18th July 2020 17:01
- Keywords: Portugal UK quarantine travel list
- Location: LISBON AND CASCAIS , PORTUGAL
- City: LISBON AND CASCAIS , PORTUGAL
- Country: Portugal
- Topics: Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA001CLE8OJR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Portugal's tourism industry is lacking its usual summer energy - dealt an extra blow by the UK government's decision to exclude it from a list of countries deemed safe enough for coronavirus restriction-free travel.
Portugal was left off a list of more than 50 countries that Britain considers safe enough for travel, meaning holidaymakers returning from Portugal would have to quarantine for 14 days.
That will be a major deterrent for British tourists, who accounted for 2.1 million of Portugal's foreign visitors last year, the second-biggest market after Spain.
More than a dozen countries have imposed restrictions on travel from Portugal as a doggedly high toll of several hundred new cases per day concentrated on the outskirts of Lisbon in the past month has worried authorities.
In near-empty pubs, restaurants and hotels, which would normally be busy with tourists, staff were dismayed at the decision which many fear will spell further trouble for businesses already struggling with the impact of the coronavirus crisis.
"I think they are being a little too strict with us," Armando Batista owner of a traditional Portuguese restaurant on one of Lisbon's famous cobbled streets, said.
"I hope they rectify it, because otherwise, we're in a bad way, a really bad way."
Martinhal Residences British CEO Chitra Stern, who only days ago reopened the Cascais branch of her luxury resort chain, was torn by the British government's decision.
"We are opening the pubs in the UK now but not letting people go to Portugal. Things like that I find hard," she said.
Portugal's number of new cases per 100,000 inhabitants is currently the second highest in Europe after Sweden, according to data from the European Union's (EU) disease control centre.
Portugal attributes this to its high testing rate, though Britain has surpassed Portugal in terms of tests per million people, according to the worldometer.info website.
Britain has confirmed 44,131 deaths and 284,276 positive tests, while Portugal has reported 1,587 fatalities and 42,782 cases.
Portugal's tourism sector reacted with fury and disbelief at Britain's decision to maintain a quarantine regime for travellers coming from Portugal despite having a higher number of coronavirus cases and deaths.
Portugal was left off a list of more than 50 countries that Britain considers safe enough for travel without coronavirus-related restrictions, meaning holidaymakers returning from Portugal would have to quarantine for 14 days.
That will be a major deterrent for British tourists, who accounted for 2.1 million of Portugal's foreign visitors last year, the second-biggest market after Spain.
"Restaurants have adapted, all areas are sanitized, masks are mandatory, hospitals are prepared, doctors were trained. The region has adapted," said Antonio Pina, a mayor from the tourism-dependent southern Algarve.
Over a dozen countries have imposed restrictions on travel from Portugal as a doggedly high toll of several hundred new cases per day concentrated on the outskirts of Lisbon in the past month has worried authorities.
"The outbreak is in peripheral Lisbon where there are no hotels, no tourist restaurants," noted Raul Martins, head of Portugal's Hotel Association.
"It has been poorly explained to the British."
Portugal's number of new cases per 100,000 inhabitants is currently the second highest in Europe after Sweden, according to data from the European Union's (EU) disease control centre.
Portugal attributes this to its high testing rate, though Britain has surpassed Portugal in terms of tests per million people, according to the worldometer.info website.
"We were penalized for speaking the truth at a time when it is important to be transparent," said Joao Fernandes, head of the Algarve's tourism authority.
In a tweet, the foreign ministry said "it is absurd that a country, the UK, with 28 times more deaths than Portugal due to #covid-19, imposes quarantine on passengers from Portugal".
Britain has confirmed 44,131 deaths and 284,276 positive tests, while Portugal has reported 1,587 fatalities and 42,782 cases.
"We hope that this decision, which seems to us profoundly unfair and wrong from the British authorities, is corrected as soon as possible," Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva told reporters.
"Countries that are friends treat each other differently."
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