English shun Portugal as holiday resort

England fans seeking solace from their World Cup woe were shunning Portugal as a holiday destination after the national squad knocked England out of the tournament, travel agents said.

Portugal beat England on penalties after Saturday's goalless quarter-final in Gelsenkirchen, causing misery for England supporters hoping their team could become world champions.



"Last week, Portugal was our fourth most-searched destination -- but since Saturday it's fallen down to 15th place," said John Bevan from online travel agent Lastminute.com.

"We expect interest will bounce back but at the moment the loss is still a bit raw. But we hope that English holidaymakers don't boycott the Algarve for long as a result of the match."

Portugal's southernmost province of Algarve accounts for nearly half of all tourist arrivals to the country. Most visitors arrive during July and August.

British visitors accounted for 40.5 percent of all overnight stays in the province last year, according to figures from the Algarve Hotel and Tourism Businesses Association (AHETA).

The president of the association, Eliderico Viegas, said the decline in interest in the Algarve as a tourist destination was most likely due to a lack of availability of hotel rooms in the province at this time of year.

"I don't believe football would have so much influence. At any rate they are already used to losing to Portugal just like we are used to losing to France," he said.

Portugal defeated England on penalties during World Cup quarter-final match in Germany, just like they did at the same stage of Euro 2004.

Meanwhile competitor Thomas Cook said bookings surged by 35 percent on Sunday and Monday as fans looked to get away from it all following England's failure to make the World Cup semi-finals.

(Agencies)

Vocabulary:

shun:to avoid deliberately; keep away from（躲避；故意避开）

for long:长久的

at any rate: 无论如何；至少

get away from it all: 用出走的办法摆脱烦恼

据旅行社介绍，在英格兰被葡萄牙淘汰出世界杯赛后，被伤透心的国内球迷们为寻求安慰出国度假，而在选择度假地时，他们偏偏不去葡萄牙。

上周六，在盖尔森基兴进行的英葡四分之一决赛中，双方均无进球，之后，葡萄牙在点球大战中击败英格兰，这让寄希望于英格兰队摘得本届世界杯冠军的球迷们痛苦不堪。

Lastminute.com旅行网的约翰·贝文说：“上周，葡萄牙还是第四个被搜索最多的目的地，但从上周六开始，便一下子滑到了第十五位。”

“我们期待大家去葡萄牙的兴趣能有所回升，但目前看来，比赛失利的影响仍然存在。但是，我们希望英国的度假者们不要因为比赛一直抵制去阿尔加维旅游。”

阿尔加维是葡萄牙最南部的一个省，此地的游客数量占整个葡萄牙游客量将近一半。大多数游客都是在七、八月份来。

据阿尔加维旅馆和旅游行业协会统计数据显示，去年，在阿尔加维过夜的所有游客中，英国游客就占了40.5%。

协会主席Eliderico Viegas说，游客对来阿尔加维度假的兴趣减小很可能是因为今年这个时候订不到旅馆房间。

他说：“我认为足球不会有这么大的影响。不管怎么样，英格兰已经习惯了输给葡萄牙，就像我们习惯输给法国一样。”

葡萄牙在本届德国世界杯四分之一决赛中以点球淘汰英格兰，这和2004年欧洲杯的四分之一决赛如出一辙。

同时，据业内同行通济隆旅行社介绍，上周六和周日的旅游预约狂涨了35％，球迷们为了摆脱英格兰未能进入半决赛的烦恼，纷纷出游散心。