Marketing director Ben Hitchcock said the UK government’s decision to add Portugal to its Covid safe list was good news for agents, who he said were well-placed to take advantage of any last-minute demand for Portugal holidays this summer.

"Now Portugal has been declared a safe destination for tourists, Riviera Travel will restart Douro river cruises in September," said Hitchcock.

"Last year, we took some 7,000 customers on a Douro river cruise. The scenery is breathtaking, and the itinerary is fascinating – it is little wonder this is one of our most popular river cruises, especially with customers looking to take a break from ocean cruising.

"Restarting river cruising in Portugal is good news for the many thousands of people who want to take a cruise now, and especially for our travel agent partners who are well placed to take advantage of demand for last minute getaways."

Hitchcock added Riviera had, for several months, been working closely with suppliers and international health expects to ensure the safety and wellbeing of passengers.

Riviera said full details of the programme would be available from its website; departures for its Douro, Porto and Salamanca river cruise, onboard MS Douro Elegance, start from 18 September, with flights available from Gatwick, Dublin and Manchester.

MS Douro Splendour will sail the same itinerary starting 20 September.

Portugal’s quarantine-free travel corridor will come into effect from 4am on Saturday (22 August).

It has also been exempted from the Foreign Office’s global no-travel advisory, which has been extended to include the Portuguese mainland after previously only covering Madeira and the Azores.