Vilamoura Marina Awarded - “International Marina of Distinction: 2015-2017”

Vilamoura Marina in the Algarve has been awarded the title of, “International Marina of Distinction: 2015-2017”, by The Yacht Harbour Association, (TYHA).  The presentation was made at the London Boat Show, in the last 12th of January 2017.

The “International Marina of Distinction: 2015-2017”, award was received after claiming the Best International Marina for three consecutive years. Voting is carried out exclusively by boat owners who visited Marinas classified with 5 Anchors in 2016.  For five years Vilamoura Marina has retained the “5 Anchors” classification, the highest given by, The Yacht Harbour Association (TYHA) and upheld by the British Marine Federation.  

Isolete Correia, Director of Vilamoura Marina states, “it is with enormous pride that we receive this award, one that is so important to the Algarve and Portugal.  The award represents recognition for all the work that we have developed for more than 40 years. This prestigious award is testimony to the service that we always strive to provide and is specifically for the last three years, giving us even more encouragement to fulfil our commitment to improving our services andinfrastructures”.

Vilamoura is a top destination internationally, and the Marina is its main attractions. In this respect, and given the excellent results regarding the summer of 2016, Vilamoura World has a €500,000 investment programme for the Marina underway.

Providing a warm welcome to three million national and international visitors, is a fundamental goal of Vilamoura Marina, which is enhancing its premises and developing new parking facilities to ensure improved access. In conclusion, Vilamoura Marina will continue to modernise and prepare for the summer of 2017, so that it can continue to be seen as the Best International Marina with 5 Gold Anchors; ISO 14001 and 9001 certified, while holding the Blue Flag award. 

  

Vilamoura Marina has successfully managed to meet the demands of an ever-changing market, putting itself on the map not just as a yachting destination but also as an important regional and national tourism hub.

Vilamoura World is pressing ahead with its revitalisation plans for Vilamoura by implementing and developing its 400 hectares Masterplan. In this way, the master developer has reaffirmed its strong commitment to the resort’s development and, therefore, to tourism development and investment in the Algarve region.

For more information visit:
- www.marinadevilamoura.com
- Vilamoura and its marina
- Marinas and Yacht Harbours in the Algarve
- https://www.visitportugal.com/Algarve
- http://www.visitalgarve.pt/Enjoy life in the marinas
- http://www.visitalgarve.pt/Award winning Marinas

Source: ATA- Algarve Promotion Bureau 

A train ride through the almonds in blossom: on the Saturdays 4, 11, 18 and 25 March 2017

Get aboard the train for a memorable journey along the Almond Blossom Circuit, where you can let your senses delight in the vast flower-filled landscape of one of Portugal’s most green and verdant regions. 

The oldest tourist excursion developed by the Portuguese railway company CP (Comboios de Portugal), the Almond Blossom circuit takes you through some unique countryside, where history and tradition blend perfectly with the beauty of the landscapes. A journey that will literally take your breath away. 

Taking you through the region of Alto Douro and Trás-os-Montes in special trains, along the line from Porto-Campanhã to Pocinho and back, the Almond Blossom Trail is further complemented by a choice of three road trips that you can also choose from:

Circuit A – Pocinho, Foz Côa (visit to the Côa Museum), Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo (stop for lunch), Castelo Rodrigo, Barca D'Alva, Penedo Durão (view point), Freixo de Espada à Cinta and Pocinho.

Circuit B – Freixo de Numão, Penedono, Trancoso (stop for lunch), Marialva (guided tour of the castle), Longroiva, Côa Museum (visit to the Côa Museum), Foz Côa and Pocinho.


Circuit C – Pocinho, Torre de Moncorvo, Mogadouro (stop for lunch and a visit to the Archaeology Museum), Cerejais (view point), Alfândega da Fé and Pocinho.

Dates: These trips are going to be held on the Saturdays 4, 11, 18 and 25 March 2017.

Visit the CP website and their Facebook page to find out the train times and any other information you may require.

Source: CP

Past and Present - Lisbon Ibero-American Capital of Culture 2017

The city of Lisbon was elected by the Union of Ibero-American Capital Cities to be the 2017 Capital of Culture of this world so diversified in terms of geography, climate, citizens, languages, economies, traditions, cultural practices, artistic languages, imagery, cultural legacies, creators and that, in the cities as a whole, brings together over 120 million people from the Iberian Peninsula, Central and South America, Mexico and the countries that have received their diasporas.

#passadoepresente #lisboacapitaliberoamericana2017 from Lisboa 2017 on Vimeo.

Lisbon, and its internationally recognized characteristics of hospitality and light, will be even more of a meeting place, a platform for conviviality and multiple forms of expression as well as many other forms of reception. However, and as announced by the Past and Present that comes before Lisbon, Ibero-American Capital of Culture in 2017, it will not simply be a place of arrivals and departures.

In Lisbon there will be traces, routes and testimonies of the past, not always grand and not always heroic. The narratives of the passages and the presence of Afro-descendants transported to the Americas will be shown through the objects, words and place names that they left behind. The same will be done for the presence of Latin American migrants on both sides of the Atlantic, in transit according to the greater or lesser adversity they encountered on either side of the ocean. Through numerous activities, the lives, expectations and, of course, the disappointments of those who passed through, stopped, or settled here will be recovered. In Lisbon, the story of what was the invention of Paradise will be told: the American Countries of the Future, their utopias and dystopias.

As for the Present, there will be exhibitions, concerts, talks and cinema from cities that are often thousands of kilometers apart, with citizens speaking Portuguese and Spanish - as languages of the community – but also using other maternal or adopted languages, with pronunciation as widely different as that of Galician and Guarani.

We shall be enjoying the festivities together, in the Present, with creativity and critical reflection, but not always with consensus, of course.

The Past and Present Lisbon, Ibero-American Capital of Culture, 2017 involves over forty venues, some of which are dependent on the City Council and the Ministry of Culture, and others belonging to different cultural organizations that responded enthusiastically to the City Council’s proposal that they produced their own projects in terms of the Lisbon Programmatic Charter.

The programme will include over 150 activities involving hundreds of artists, producers, teachers and publicists in order to build, together with the people of Lisbon, the Cultural City.

Find more information at:
- http://www.lisboacapitaliberoamericana.pt/
- Programme
- https://www.facebook.com/Lisboa Capital Ibero americana de Cultura 2017
- https://www.instagram.com/lisboacapitaliberoamericana/
- Lisbon Ibero-American Capital of Culture 2017

Source: CM Lisboa

The New York Times has chosen "52 Places to Go in 2017": Comporta, in Alentejo region ranks #25

The American Newspaper New York Times has chosen again "52 Places to Go in 2017" and Comporta, in Alentejo region ranks #25.

According to this publication "...hippie-chic Comporta, a protected nature reserve and former fisherman’s village in the Alentejo region, is deliberately underdeveloped and teeming with creative European A-listers" 

Find more about this region here:

-https://www.visitportugal.com/en/ A weekend in Troia

- https://www.visitportugal.com/en/Praia da Comporta
- https://www.visitportugal.com/en/The Alenetjo Coast
- http://visitportugalblog.blogspot.pt/beaches-of-troia-long-sandy-beaches.html
- http://www.visitalentejo.pt/The Alentejo Coast

TAP awarded “Best airline in Europe"

TAP Portugal was awarded “Best Airline in Europe”  by the leading specialized North American magazine ‘Global Traveler’, on the past December 13, 2016. 

In addition, the company also won the award for the “The Best New Route Launch (Boston/Lisbon)” and was also bestowed with a couple more prizes in recognition for the high quality of the Portuguese wines served on board TAP ‘s Executive class: the Paulo Laureano Reserva 2014 wine, from the Alentejo region, was elected the “Best International Business Class White Wine” and the Churchill’s Estates Grande Reserva 2011, from the Douro region, was awarded  the second best in the “Best International Business Class Red Wine” category.
 

“These awards show that the quality product delivered by TAP is recognized by the North American market, indeed a very demanding and competitive one, a market on which TAP is strongly committed to pursue all efforts to win more and more customers”, said Trey Urbahn, Member of the Executive Board of Directors of TAP, COO.
 

Also present at the ceremony, Abilio Martins, Vice President Marketing and Communications at TAP, highlighted that, as part of its main strategy, the Portuguese airline “ strongly contributes to promote Portugal quality products, namely the Portuguese wines, as they can be tasted on board by international travelers around the world and thereby be largely recognized and appreciated”.
 

To vote the best wines served by airlines, the ‘Global Traveler’ promoted the “Wines on the Wing Airline Competition” and selected a 36 experts panel including sommeliers, wine retailers and wine producers, who judged in “blind tasting” the wines submitted by participating airlines.

Source: Tap Portugal

TAP Launches six new destinations and reinforces operations in 2017

Toronto, Stuttgart, Gran Canaria, Alicante, Budapest and Bucharest the new routes added to the Network of Tap Portugal for 2017.

TAP Portugal announced the launch of six new destinations along with the reinforcement of operations to a few other destinations already served, as part of the company’s increase in offer planned for summer 2017. 

Therefore, as of next June and July 2017, TAP will extend its network reach to new countries, such as Canada (Toronto), Hungary (Budapest) and Romania (Bucharest), and will also add some new destinations in Spain (Gran Canaria and Alicante) as well as in Germany (Stuttgart). 

In parallel, TAP will also reinforce its frequencies to Madrid (departing Porto), Manchester, Moscow, Dusseldorf and Faro. Flight bookings for TAP new routes are available as of today. Altogether, the new routes along with the operations reinforcement, will result into a significant growth for the summer season, clearly showing how confident TAP is for the near future.

For that matter, in July 2017, TAP will increase operations in 11 per cent with some more 1,176 flights offered than in same month last year, representing an increase of 19 per cent in seat capacity. 

The growth planned for 2017 comes in line with the expansion strategy of the company launched already in 2016, an intense year during which TAP not only increased its activity but also introduced quite a few changes, such as the order of a new medium and long haul fleet put in with Airbus (due for delivery as of  2017 end); the phase in of two additional A330 aircraft; the cabin retrofit of 48 aircraft currently in progress; the launch of the new brand TAP Express for regional operations; the new Lisbon/Oporto shuttle service; the launch of TAP Stopover and the   reinforcement of its positioning in North Atlantic with the inauguration of two new routes in the USA: Boston and New York – JFK. 
After completing the restructuring of its network earlier this year, TAP has put in place a new and more competitive fare policy more recently, and is now ready to grow again, improving and diversifying its product on one hand, while reinforcing its fleet on the other, thereby ensuring the enhancement of services delivered to Customers. 

Further to the increase of operations to some destinations and the start of new routes, TAP will also go on upgrading its offer in the domestic sector. Thus, following the successful launch of the Lisbon/Oporto shuttle and the frequency increases to both Madeira and the Azores, TAP will as of next summer reinforce operations from Lisbon to Faro as well, growing from three to four dailies, with a 33 per cent increase in offer. 

In order to support the boost in operations, the company will reinforce its fleet in 2017 with the addition of one long haul aircraft (A330), two medium haul aircraft (A320F) and four Embraer’s to join TAP Express regional operations, increasing TAP fleet from 80 to 87 aircraft in the whole.

Source: Tap Portugal 

Portugal is one of the "top 10 countries to visit in 2017" according to the Rough Guides

The Rough Guides, one of the leading publisher of travel in the world, selected their "top 10 countries to visit in 2017" and Portugal ranks #7.

For the Rough Guides, Portugal is:

"Portugal is on the up, finally surfacing after five years of deep economic crisis. Tourism in the countryside and on the coast is booming, while the cities are becoming increasingly cosmopolitan thanks to thriving creative industries, world-class restaurants and cutting-edge art scenes.

Central to this transformation is Lisbon, home to a host of forward-thinking startups and a growing bohemian vibe. Come for the liberatingly low rents and hotel costs, gorgeous historic neighbourhoods, never-ending nightlife and among the best year-round weather in Europe. In the north, laidback Porto is proudly embracing its own identity, too, both as a gritty cultural hub and the country’s food-and-drink capital. Beyond the cities, in much of Portugal an old-world pace of life still pervades. Along the country’s long swathes of coastline you’ll find everything from quaint fishing towns, all of which are perennially cheap, to the balmy beaches and wildlife reserves of the Algarve".

Source: Rough Guides