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)

據旅行社介紹，在英格蘭被葡萄牙淘汰出世界杯賽后，被傷透心的國內球迷們為尋求安慰出國度假，而在選擇度假地時，他們偏偏不去葡萄牙。 上周六，在蓋爾森基興進行的英葡四分之一決賽中，雙方均無進球，之后，葡萄牙在點球大戰中擊敗英格蘭，這讓寄希望于英格蘭隊摘得本屆世界杯冠軍的球迷們痛苦不堪。 Lastminute.com旅行網的約翰·貝文說：“上周，葡萄牙還是第四個被搜索最多的目的地，但從上周六開始，便一下子滑到了第十五位。” “我們期待大家去葡萄牙的興趣能有所回升，但目前看來，比賽失利的影響仍然存在。但是，我們希望英國的度假者們不要因為比賽一直抵制去阿爾加維旅游。” 阿爾加維是葡萄牙最南部的一個省，此地的游客數量占整個葡萄牙游客量將近一半。大多數游客都是在七、八月份來。 據阿爾加維旅館和旅游行業協會統計數據顯示，去年，在阿爾加維過夜的所有游客中，英國游客就占了40.5%。 協會主席Eliderico Viegas說，游客對來阿爾加維度假的興趣減小很可能是因為今年這個時候訂不到旅館房間。 他說：“我認為足球不會有這么大的影響。不管怎么樣，英格蘭已經習慣了輸給葡萄牙，就像我們習慣輸給法國一樣。” 葡萄牙在本屆德國世界杯四分之一決賽中以點球淘汰英格蘭，這和2004年歐洲杯的四分之一決賽如出一轍。 同時，據業內同行通濟隆旅行社介紹，上周六和周日的旅游預約狂漲了35％，球迷們為了擺脫英格蘭未能進入半決賽的煩惱，紛紛出游散心。 (英語點津姍姍編輯)