(Bloomberg) -- Portugal’s Algarve region may only recover next year from a slump in foreign visitors caused by the coronavirus outbreak, according to Eliderico Viegas, head of the Association of Algarve Hotels and Tourism Enterprises.
“This year, hotels in the Algarve will have to rely on locals for bookings, which is insufficient to keep many of these units open,” Viegas said in a telephone interview. “Many hotels won’t open this year.” If everything goes well in terms of fighting the pandemic, foreign visitors are expected to start returning to the Algarve in April of next year, he said.
The Algarve in southern Portugal is one of the nation’s main tourist regions. Tourism accounts for about 15% of Portugal’s gross domestic product and has been among the industries that have been most affected by the outbreak, with about 85% of workers expected to be temporarily laid off in April, according to the Portuguese Hotel Association.
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