Madeira floods: tourists urged not to cancel holidays

Tourism chiefs have urged holidaymakers not to abandon Madeira as a tourist destination following flash floods and mudslides at the weekend that left at 42 dead and hundreds homeless.



Many people had been put off coming to Madeira, because of the dramatic images of the devastation there have been cancellations, In reality it is a very small area that has been affected and the authorities are working incredibly hard to restore the infrastructure and ensure a return to normality.

Of course it will take time to rebuild some of the infrastructure and that won't happen overnight but there is absolutely no reason for people not to go to Maderia.

Almost 1 million foreign tourists visit Madeira each year by air and a further 400,000 arrive on cruise ships. British holidaymakers account for around 20 per cent of visitors on the island where tourism directly accounts for 20 per cent of GDP.

Find out more about holidays in Maderia with Holidays Online.