* Bookings to Portugal soar as Britons given green light to
travel
* Tourists make short-term plans, opt for refundable rates
* Hesitation stems from COVID-19 restrictions, changing
rules
* Hotel owners pleased but cautious
* TUI to fly Dreamliners to add capacity on UK-Portugal
routes
(Updates with easyJet, TUI, Ryanair details)
By Catarina Demony and Victoria Waldersee
LISBON, May 12 (Reuters) - The mailbox of a well-known hotel
in the heart of Lisbon was bombarded with queries as soon as
Britain announced it was including the country on its travel
"green list" this summer.
Manuel Pinto, Mundial Hotel's director, is over the moon
that British holidaymakers, who are essential to Portugal's
tourism industry, will be able to return after a five-month
travel ban, giving a much-needed boost to the struggling sector.
"I was delighted, not only on a personal level but for our
country," Pinto said, standing in Mundial's rooftop bar, adding
that British visitors had already booked around 4,000 room
nights at the hotel this year.
Portugal was one of just 12 countries and territories to be
added to Britain's "green list", allowing Britons to visit them
from May 17 without needing to quarantine, but still requiring
two COVID-19 tests - one before returning to the UK and one on
arrival into the UK.
Travel search website Skyscanner said there was a 616%
increase in bookings to Portugal last week compared to the
previous one, prompting airlines to add capacity to existing
routes and, in some cases, launch news ones to meet demand.
EasyJet and Ryanair have both added more flights to Portugal
from the UK for this summer. EasyJet said it was putting up to
100,000 extra seats on routes over the May-October period, while
Ryanair is adding 195,000 in May-June.
Holiday company TUI said on Wednesday that demand for
Portugal was so strong it planned to use its bigger 787
Dreamliner planes, which it tends to use for long haul trips, on
UK-to-Portugal routes to add capacity.
Still, a tourism sector scarred by Britain's last-minute
changes to travel rules last summer and Christmas is braced for
another turbulent year, and Portugal has yet to spell out
exactly what rules would apply to Britons arriving.
Some executives said they were only too aware of how quickly
the tide could turn again if coronavirus cases rose or
governments changed their mind.
"I have to be cautious," Chitra Stern, CEO of luxury hotel
chain Martinhal, said. "People are still booking refundable
rates."
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Other popular holiday destinations for Britons like Spain
and Cyprus are on the "amber list", meaning travellers would
need to quarantine for 10 days upon return and take two tests.
Tourism plays a crucial role in Portugal, representing
around 15% of gross domestic product in 2019. But it suffered
its worst year since the mid-1980s in 2020 as the coronavirus
pandemic kept visitors away.
Last year, only 460,000 Britons visited Portugal, from 2
million the previous year.
Eliderico Viegas, president of Algarve hotel association
AHETA, said hotel owners were aware they were benefiting from
the fact that other countries faced greater restrictions.
"Our main competitors have been left out of the 'green list'
for now," he said. "It is a competitive advantage for us."
Britain's Thomas Cook said bookings had tripled compared to
a week ago, with trips to Portugal accounting for a majority of
that rise.
Airbnb bookings also started increasing and British airline
easyJet said UK bookings for Portugal surged after the
announcement, although it declined to provide figures.
Yet the high cost of COVID-19 testing and limited
availability of flights pushing up prices, combined with the
fact that the pandemic is still present, means the summer season
is hard to forecast, even for Portugal.
"It's not just a matter of a recovery of traditional flying,
it's a complete reshaping," travel consultant for Bain & Co,
Geoffrey Weston, said. "That's why this is so hard to judge."
(Additional reporting by Sarah Young in London and Laurence
Frost in Paris; Writing by Victoria Waldersee and Catarina
Demony; Editing by Ingrid Melander and Mike Collett-White)
easyJet (EZJ)