Portugal has been nominated once again for the Europe event of the world travel awards 2019 with 143 nominations in almost 70 different categories categories.
The WTA are considered the "Oscars" from the tourism industry and Portugal has over the past few years won for multiples times.
After being awarded by the World Travel Awards for five consecutive times with the prize “Europe´s Leading Island Destination” and for three times with the “World´s Leading Island Destination” award, Madeira Islands prepares to host, in 2019, this ceremony, which annually distinguishes the best tourist destinations on a global scale. Madeira Tourist Board will welcome hundreds of industry leaders to the red-carpet event, on 8th June 2019, when Madeira will celebrate one of its major events, The Atlantic Festival, which marks the start of Madeira’s summer season. The WTA ceremony will be held at the famous Belmond Reid’s Palace, a breath-taking island retreat overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. “It is an extraordinary and unprecedented opportunity to promote Madeira, as well as to optimize its tourism potential abroad.”, said the Regional Secretary for Tourism and Culture, Mrs. Paula Cabaço. About Madeira: Madeira, otherwise known as ‘the islands of eternal spring’ is just a short flight from most European cities. It is 741 square km in size and has a population of 254K. On the same latitude as Morocco, the Atlantic archipelago has a sub-tropical climate and rich volcanic soil. Madeira has a unique eco-system and is one of the only places in the planet where banana trees grow next to vineyards. In 1999 the archipelago was named A UNESCO World Heritage Site and five areas have been declared nature reserves. The Madeira Nature Reserve covers a substantial 77% of the main island, where development is prohibited. For more information about Madeira visit madeiraallyear.com and http://www.visitmadeira.pt/
About World Travel Awards WTA was established in 1993 to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the tourism industry. Today, the WTA brand is recognised globally as the ultimate hallmark of quality, with winners setting the benchmark to which all others aspire. Each year, WTA covers the globe with a series of regional gala ceremonies staged to recognise and celebrate individual and collective success within each key geographical region. WTA gala ceremonies are widely regarded as the best networking opportunities in the travel industry, attended by government and industry leaders, luminaries and international print and broadcast media. For more information about WTA visit www.worldtravelawards.com.
Source: World Travel Awards, Madeira All Year and VisitMadeira
Portugal will host the summit of the oldest exploration society in the world, the Explorers Club of New York. It's the Global Exploration Summit (GLEx), which will take place from 3rd to 5th July in Lisbon.
Celebrating 500 years of the first Magalhães / Elcano circumnavigation yoyage, this summit will be attended by 400 pioneering researchers and professionals in the field of science, art and technology, who will take part in the signing of the Lisbon Resolution.
The event, which will be organised with the support of Turismo de Portugal and in collaboration with Estrutura de Missão for the celebration of the circumnavigation's 500th anniversary, should have panels open to the public with worldwide references to exploration and science.
The announcement of this summit coming to Portugal was made by Secretary of State for Tourism, Ana Mendes Godinho, at the annual The Explorers Club gala held in New York last March 16th. This ceremony celebrated the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the Man to the Moon, with a tribute to ten living astronauts from NASA's various Apollo missions, to which Portugal offered a bottle of Port wine dating back to 1969.
The Explorers Club was founded in 1904 and has 3,500 members, including names such as Elon Musk (Tesla and Space X), James Cameron (filmmaker) and Jeff Bezos (Amazon).
Among the confirmed speakers are the World Ocean Forum’s director Alexander More, the doctor Bertrand Piccard, the archaeologist Beverly Goodman, the film director Fabien Cousteau and NASA’s chief-scientist James Garvin.
A second Portuguese edition of the event is already planned for 2021.
The theme
proposed for reflection in 2019 is “Museums as Cultural Platforms – Museums´and Citizenship”. The idea is to draw attention to the importance of the
global reach of museums as part of a worldwide network of knowledge, and to the
importance of museums as focal points of the communities to which they belong.
In a
society subject to constant change, museums are cultural platforms
which, in addition to their mission of collecting, preserving, communicating,
researching and exhibiting, should offer visitors the chance to create, share
and interact. One way or another, they have become a reflection of the local
needs and opinions of the people for a global context.
On Museum
Day, which this year falls on a Saturday, a great many activities will be
organized. They include guided tours, historical re-enactments, performances
and shows which will be extended into the Night of Museums, to provide a
visit experience with a difference, outside the usual hours.
From 31 May to 2 June, binoculars and cameras
will once again descend on the streets of Miranda do Douro, in northeast
Portugal, for Iberian nature festival ObservArribas. Over the course of three
days, hundreds of birdwatchers and nature-lovers will come and explore the
Douro region’s birds, views and traditions.
From watching eagles and vultures – Europe’s
largest birds – to searching for birds at night-time, tasting local cuisine or
joining in a traditional dance, ObservArribas caters to all tastes. Visitors
will have a chance to explore the region on foot, by boat and even in an
electric car – a novelty this year. Now in its third edition, the festival is
moving to the centre of town. Right next to the castle walls will sit a
veritable nature fair, featuring local products and a screening of
environment-themed films. And as the festival spans International Child’s Day,
there will be no shortage of activities for young explorers.
“Right from the start,
Life Rupis was always predicated on the idea that local development and nature
conservation should be allies. This region’s culture has been shaped by nature:
by the river, by the climate. So in this third edition we brought ObservArribas
to the centre of town, so that even people who don’t go on a hike or join a
birdwatching session can feel that connection between the region’s nature and
its people,” says Joaquim Teodósio, who coordinates
SPEA’s Land Conservation Department and the Life Rupis Project.
The festival’s stars will be the region’s birds,
which visitors will get to see from every possible angle: in daytime and
night-time; in the city, on the cliffs and from the river itself. And if you
wish to see nature through the eyes of those who depend on it, you can join a
local shepherd on his rounds.
In the centre of Miranda do Douro, young and old
will be able to get down to business: grown-ups can use beeswax to make
plastic-free clingfilm, while youngsters reuse everyday things to make
binoculars. And all can be enthralled by the “CSI dogs” demonstrating their
work with the National Guard’s nature protection service.
With dozens of activities throughout the region
– in Portugal and Spain – ObservArribas is an invitation to explore the natural
and cultural heritage of the Douro canyon.
Lisbon airport has been awarded Airport of the Year by Air Transport News (ATN) at the 2019 Air Transport Awards, held in partnership with the Hermes Air Transport Organization.
Thierry Ligonnière, Portugal Area Director of VINCI Airports, said:
“It is a great honor for Lisbon airport to receive this recognition. Lisbon is an amazing city that grew incredibly in recent years, and the airport has been responding to airline and passenger expectations and coping with this fast growth that brought great challenges.” The Air Transport Awards recognize and honor the quality and the commitment of the organizations as well as individuals of the aviation sector.
From the 2nd of May to the 17th of July, Lisbon Under Stars will take you on an immersive journey through history that brings together multimedia projections, virtual dancers, visual effects and music.
The ruins at Carmo, in Lisbon historic center, will be transformed into a time machine and its wall into a three-dimensional and 360º screen onto which more than 600 years of the history of the city of Lisboa will be projected.
Lisbon Under Stars will take you on an immersive journey through history that brings together multimedia projections, virtual dancers, visual effects and music.
It also involves many of the biggest names of Portuguese music, culture and dance.
This is the second edition of this event that in 2018 won the BEA Best Cultural Event award.
Dates: From 2nd May to 17th July, Monday to Saturday at 9:30 pm and 10:45 pmLocation: Ruínas do Carmo, Largo do Carmo (metro: Baixa-Chiado)Tickets: 15 euros, general; 12 euros, children from 6 to 10 years, students, over 65 years old
The winners will be announced on the night of the Europe Gala Ceremony 2019 that will take place in Funchal, Madeira Island, Portugal , on Saturday 8th June 2019, in Belmond Reid’s Palace.
