2024 may go down in Portuguese holiday record books as the year when things lurched a little bit sideways.
There are the habitual ‘horrendous queues at Faro airport’ to deal with – here and there (no one can quite be sure which are the worst moments/days); ditto in Lisbon, where queues and backlogs can reduce people to tears. But now there is more: AL holiday lettings have been taking a battering; anti-social behaviour in Albufeira has seen authorities say, ‘enough is enough’ – introducing all kinds of new rules and measures – and some areas have actually been campaigning against the ‘great tourist influx’.
Is the worm finally turning? (And which worm are we talking about?)
First to the ‘awful airport backlogs’ when arrivals press up against each other, hand luggage riding over other people’s toes, in the desperate wait to be released into fresh air (or at least fresher air) and away from the hell of being a modern-day traveller.
We may have forgotten that early on this year there was the ‘shock announcement’ that Portugal ran the risk of being ‘suspended from Schengen Space’ due to a delay in installing a new system of frontier control that had to be ‘validated’ by July.
“Every effort is being made to be ready in time”, earnest officials were quoted as telling probing journalists. Then, ‘relief’, the new system managed to be validated ‘in time’ – and since then what has been obvious? Lots of posts over social media about queues at arrivals and “no automatic gates” being open…
There may be a link – a slip betwixt validation and implementation.
For example, the new system might have limboed artfully under the validation deadline, but has it been installed? Is it working?
For now, all one can say is that unbelievably frustrating queues at Faro airport – both to get into Portugal, and sometimes even to get out – remain part of the glorious summer experience, and, of course, many travellers find this exasperating.
Now, fast forward to the heady days of holiday release: where to go? What to do? Tourists opting to visit the magical palaces of Sintra may not be impressed by the fact that once they have endured the ups and downs of getting there, they are met with walls festooned with posters telling them they are not wanted.
As we reported recently, the residents and businesses of Sintra have found life unbearable/ unworkable in the thick of the tourist thongs. Indeed, even tourists find it difficult to get around…
Yes, there are attractions in which it is easier to move around. But even here there is another crinkle in the whole performance: AL holiday lettings prices. These have been increasingly increasing. As one lettings manager (who has asked not to be named) admits, “owners are much too greedy. They saw 20% profit margins, and they don’t want to lose them”.
This might work if Portugal existed in a bubble, but other destinations – like Albania and Montenegro – are rolling out the red carpet to tourists for a great deal less. AL, or rather its equivalent in both, is infinitely cheaper.
Inês Lopes/Open Media Group
Thus 2024 has seen Portugal’s AL ‘boom’ if not bomb, definitely starting leaking ballast. The less perfect homes and apartments are finding low takers; some, even in the heat of July, are empty.
Might the dip have something to do with the recent Euro football championships, and the Olympics in Paris? This is what ALEP, the AL association, hopes. But property management businesses are not so sure.
Rui Silva, director-general of Guest Ready has told Diário de Notícias that his clients (particularly the AL owners in and around Porto) have been forced to drop their prices to attract guests – and he expects they will have to do so again, even this year.
It is Silva who mentioned the strong competition from other destinations, like Albania and Montenegro – two fairly new arrivals to the ‘international holiday scene’.
“There are various countries in central Europe carrying promotions this summer,” he explained. “This is bringing a competition that we didn’t have before. We are feeling that there are a lot of people going to these places now, instead of coming here”.
Which is why it is so important not to have ‘irritating’ hiccups like long queues at airports, putting people off even further.
Increasing violent crime
This is another ‘no no’ for any holiday destination. No one wants to learn that the country they are thinking of visiting is grappling with a rising tide of violent crimes. But this is again what headlines in Portugal have been screaming for the last few months – again with Porto being one of the ‘worst spots’ for street violence and attacks.
The Algarve, traditionally, is not known for violent crime, or even violence – unless one is referring to Albufeira, which has become notorious for ‘bad behaviour’, drunken excesses and the kind of welcome that “isn’t suitable for families”.
Last weekend saw a visit by the minister for Interior Administration, to see for herself how much firmer controls are needed in the downtown ‘bar zone’ – yet within hours of her visit, five young Dutch youths were viciously stabbed by a group of Irish tourists, ostensibly because they complained about the noise of the latter’s music.
One of the Dutch victims is said to have been so badly injured, his life is at risk.
It is never one thing that contributes to a downturn in tourism. It is the sum of the whole, and this year, Portugal’s shine appears to be under a cloud.
Can we recover? Almost certainly. But then there is the hugely complicated question of ‘will we have water next year to welcome all the tourists back again?’
