Holiday hotspot travel bookings soar amid Middle | Travel News

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has launched up to date travel steerage for Portugal as of right this moment (March 20). New data has been offered for vacationers who need to remain in Portugal longer than 90 days as a consequence of distinctive circumstances.

According to the up to date steerage: “If you’re visiting Portugal and need to extend your visa-free stay for exceptional reasons, such as a medical emergency, you must apply to AIMA using their contact form (access is only available to users in Portugal). If you’re in Portugal with a residence permit or long-stay visa, this does not count towards your 90-day visa-free limit.”

The steerage additional clarifies: “If you are in Portugal with a residence allow or long-stay visa, this doesn’t depend in direction of your 90-day visa-free restrict.”

British passport holders don’t need visas for short journeys to EU nations or Schengen zone nations, as long as two circumstances are happy.

• Your whole time within the Schengen zone should not surpass 90 days within any 180-day period.
• The quantity of nations you go to would not matter.
• The 180-day period repeatedly ‘rolls over’

Since October 2025, the European Union has rolled out the Entry/Exit System (EES), mandating vacationers submit fingerprints and images during their first entry into or exit from the Schengen zone. Full implementation is set for 10 April.

Yet the system has skilled vital startup points, leaving quite a few vacationers stranded for hours at airports.

As the system mandates non-EU guests – together with Brits – to register their fingerprints and have their picture taken in particular person at border crossings, the additional registration period is already producing intensive queues for non-European passengers at airports all through the area.

The disruption has change into so extreme that sure places have briefly halted its operation. The European Commission has proposed that border officers might droop the new system for up to 6 hours during busy travel durations till September to alleviate bottlenecks.

Growing numbers of Brits are securing flights to Portugal as Middle Eastern tensions persist. Destinations resembling Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and Dubai are being perceived as progressively harmful, prompting vacationers to decide on safer choices like Portugal and Spain.

Reservations to Portugal had surged by 42% during the 2 weeks ending 13 March, in line with Thomas Cook – the most important increase amongst any nations they coordinate holidays to.

The Balearic Islands adopted (40 per cent) alongside the Canary Islands (16 per cent).

TravelGrocery store launched information on online search trends, indicating a “clear surge” in curiosity for European and Atlantic locations over the Middle East.