Beachfront restaurateur Francisco Barbosa had never before seen three people share a soup, or two people share a glass of wine or a cup of coffee – but this is the portrait of some of the Algarve’s ‘crisis’ tourists who have left business owners realising that more holidaymakers doesn’t necessarily mean more money.
Less than two months before the start of the holiday season and the association of Algarve beach concessions is predicting a 10% drop in business in shops and restaurants this year.
According to Barbosa, president of AISCOMA (Associação dos Industriais e Similares de Concessões da Orla Marítima do Algarve), the drop in tourist spending has been registered “from north to south of the country”.
While his association expects more tourists this year, it is predicting a drop in spending of between 8% and 10%, he told Lusa news agency.
“People just don’t have the money to spend,” he said, adding that new rules that oblige beach concessions to hire a lifeguard for every 50 metre stretch of sand eat into profit potential even further.
