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(Adds reax from tourism industry, details on Portugal
restrictions)
By Victoria Waldersee and Sergio Goncalves
LISBON, May 14 (Reuters) - Portugal will allow holidaymakers
from Britain to enter from Monday, the national tourism board
said, prompting a sigh of relief from hotel owners already
inundated with bookings after Britain's go-ahead for travel from
that day.
Britain added Portugal, whose economy heavily depends on
tourism, particularly from the UK, to a "green" list of foreign
destinations a week ago, allowing Britons to travel there
without needing to quarantine for COVID-19 when returning home.
European Union rules prohibit non-essential travel from
outside the bloc, making Portugal's decision to allow in UK
tourists an exception.
"We're very excited about this news. The repercussion of the
decision is being felt by every type of hotel, from hostels to
five-star," said Eliderico Viegas, head of the Algarve regional
hotel association.
Tourists from Britain must present evidence of a negative
PCR taken 72 hours before departure, said the Turismo de
Portugal authority, part of the Economy Ministry.
Airline EasyJet, which added around 100,000 extra
seats for flights to Portugal over the summer, and British
travel agency Thomas Cook, where bookings to Portugal tripled
over the past week, also welcomed the news.
"We have hundreds of customers with their cases packed," a
spokesperson for Thomas Cook said.
On Monday, EU leaders are due to discuss a proposal to ease
travel restrictions for people from outside the bloc who were
fully vaccinated or came from countries with low case numbers.
'A LITTLE LATE'
Thousands of UK tourists rushed to book their holidays in
the week of Britain's green list announcement, with data from
flight website Skyscanner showing a 616% week-on-week rise in
bookings.
But as May 17 drew closer with no news from Portugal, some
holidaymakers had begun cancelling their plans, said Pedro
Ribeiro, director at Portuguese hotel chain Dom Pedro.
The delay in Portugal's announcement "did create stress and
complications", Ribeiro said.
"We already had some cancellations and changes to bookings.
It's coming a little late, but we know that the issue had to be
treated with diplomacy."
The tourism board said authorities were making sure
Portugal's testing capacity met demand from tourists and air
travel capacity between Britain and Portugal was being
reinforced.
Portugal, which has reported around 300-400 new COVID-19
cases a day over the past month and no new deaths on Friday, has
lifted the majority of lockdown rules, but bars and clubs remain
closed, restaurants must close at 10:30 p.m. and masks are
mandatory in crowded spaces and indoors.
(Reporting by Lisbon bureau, Sarah Young in London; writing by
Victoria Waldersee; editing by Andrei Khalip, Mark Heinrich and
Nick Macfie)
