but have said that they have confidence in their prevention methods.

The head of the AHETA Hotel and Tourist Resort Association, Elderico Viegas, says that his main concerns are with tourists travelling to the area without knowing that they are carrying the virus and passing it on to residents in the Algarve. He said that the majority of tourists holidaying in the Algarve at this time of year are from high risk areas like Germany, Spain and the U.K.

Viegas said that although there were risks he has confidence in the actions of the health authorities. He points out that: “We were the first structure to hold clarification sessions for associates, in collaboration with the Algarve Regional Health Board (ARS). We have distributed brochures and posters explaining the necessary care to be taken to avoid propagating the virus and on our website we have all this information.”

Another worry of the tourism industry is that because tourists tend to come from higher risk areas there may be a rise in cancellations due to the virus. Viegas said that in this case he was also not overly concerned, because the illness is supposed to peak in the colder winter months which are traditionally low tourist season in the Algarve.

Posted on: August 17th, 2009 by Trevor Lloyd

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