While travel is still restricted in many parts of the world, Europe is mostly open, at least to Europeans, and those traveling from a few other outside countries.
With summer in full swing, and actually winding down all too quickly, it’s crunch time for tourism driven economies, and after months of frustration, including being added to the UK’s 14 day quarantine list, Portugal is taking creative steps to bring travellers back now.
The food was already a winner, the views too – so Portugal created its own travel insurance, with extra to make stress free trips, or refunds if you must bail.
Portugal Travel Insurance For The Win?
With the announcement of its own, easy to purchase covid-19 insurance, demand for travel to Portugal has skyrocketed. Not only does the coverage handle the unknowns if you were to contract covid-19 while traveling in portugal, like medical expenses and repatriation, the insurance covers frustrations around getting there too.
The polices aren’t free, like recent moves from Spain’s Canary Islands, but at under €40 for most visits, they’re a bargain.
Portugal has questionably been left off UK quarantine free travel corridors this summer, crushing demand for a key demographic in Portugal travel. With the new insurance, things like cancelled flights or postponed trips would also be covered, which is something many airlines aren’t even offering.
Brits love the place, and the move appears to be moving the needle. Plus, rumors are strong that Portugal is next to be added to the UK quarantine exemption list.
Summer and autumn in the Algarve and city breaks into dreamy Lisbon have always been perennial favourites, and Portugal Travel Insurance, the creatively titled policy from tourism authorities has already lead to 1000’s of new booking inquiries.
Packages in the new Portugal Travel Insurance are based on length of stay, and a trip under 10 days would run €37, but covers refunds for flight cancellation or trip delay, in addition to all medical care, a slew of tourist health resources and even repatriation to the country of origin, in the event of a serious infection.
As the EU looks to add countries onto its approved list, this could sway even more visitors toward Portugal, with easy to understand coverage that takes the questions out of inevitable travel uncertainty.
Though it would’ve been laughed out of an ideas room at the start of 2020, health insurance and safeguards for visitors are the new ” epic deals” and key attractions. Emirates famously became the first airline to offer complimentary coverage for all passengers, and both countries and regions have created their own covid-19 safety guarantees.
Covid-19 is also changing the way people travel, prompting many countries to offer visas for digital nomads, in an attempt to woo long term visitors, rather than constant flows of new visitors. The digital nomad visas allow tourists to legally work remotely and stay for up to a year.
There’s no question that covid-19 will change travel for years to come, but some solutions actually provide certainty and safety for elements of travel which many never worried about enough. It’s not all bad, and if it means Pasteis De Nata in Lisbon in the near future, it’s deliciously good.
