It may have been an unusual year for travel, but Portugal remains in the spotlight as it is named Europe’s Leading Destination at the World Travel Awards. The Algarve was voted the best beach destination for the seventh year.
Announced last week, the World Travel Awards recognised the country’s southern-most region for its excellent beaches, with 87 blue flags and 48 accessible beaches for those with disabilities. It was also one of the first regions to open the bathing season for the summer while ensuring all safety conditions.
“There was a great joint effort by the whole region to put these measures in place, which proved to be essential to consolidate our image of being the Best European Beach Destination,” said João Fernandes, president of the Algarve tourism board.
“Receiving this international distinction validates all this work and proves that the Algarve is capable of adapting to new circumstances, without altering the quality and authenticity of the experiences that can be discovered by tourists here.”
Awards across the country
For the fourth consecutive year, Portugal was named the leading destination in Europe at the World Travel Awards, considered the ‘Oscars’ of the travel industry. A total of 27 awards were presented to the country, including Europe’s Leading Island Destination (Madeira) and Europe’s Leading Adventure Tourism Destination (Azores).
Lisbon was named Europe’s Leading Cruise Destination, while Porto was awarded Europe’s Leading City Break Destination. The Lisbon tourism board was named Europe’s Leading City Tourism Board.
According to the CEO of the Visit Portugal platform, Luís Araújo, “the fourth time must be the charm!”: “These awards are a wonderful recognition for the dedicated professionals throughout Portugal’s tourism industry and our many destination assets but, even more importantly this year, it shows that we have kept the trust of our domestic and international visitors with programs such as Clean & Safe, to keep people safe as they travel.”
Despite these challenging times, Portugal – and the Algarve in particular – has proven its resilience as a leading destination of choice for both holidaymakers and residents. For more information on investing in Portugal, get in touch with the Algarve Home Sales team here.
