Portugal expected to reopen borders for US travelers

Portugal will be the next European country to reopen its borders to fully vaccinated US travelers this summer. 

News of the country's loosening travel restrictions came from Economy Minister Pedro Siza Viera, who appeared on a Portuguese radio station on Tuesday. 

"We are in a position to approve the opening of non-essential travel and flights to people from the US to Portugal as long as they have a vaccination certificate," Vieira was quoted by Reuters. 

Travelers will need to have had their second (or final) vaccination dose at least two weeks before arriving in the country. 

Though details are still slim, it's clear Portugal is joining the steadily growing list of European countries like Spain, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Croatia that are reopening for fully vaccinated American travelers.

And not a moment too soon. 

The UK recently reintroduced quarantine restrictions on travelers returning from Portugal, which Reuters reports, will be a big blow to the country's tourism sector as Britain is one of Portugal's largest foreign tourism markets. 

Lifting restrictions for Americans will be a last-ditch attempt by the country to avoid another catastrophic blow to the country's GDP. According to Reuters, 1.2 million tourists from the US visited Portugal in 2019. That number dipped to 135,229 in 2020.