Industry leaders call for joined-up portuguese promo campaign

The new Portuguese Minister of Tourism, Cecilia Meireles Graca, heard calls for the country to launch a new, well-coordinated communication, pricing and financial support strategy to help rebuild its residential tourism sector when she held a high-level meeting in London with senior leaders from the overseas property industry last week.

The meeting, which included:

• Diogo Gaspar Ferreira, the chief executive officer of Vale do Lobo;
• Andre Jordan, the chairman of the Andre Jordan Group;
• Jorge Botelho Moniz, manager of Banco Espirito Santo;
• Clive Statham, managing director of Anglo Portuguese Mortgages Ltd;
  
• Charles Weston Baker, director of International Residential and Resort Department at Savills PLC;
  
• Christina Hippisley, general manager of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce;
  
• Simon Perks, vice chairman of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce;
  
• Filipe Silva, tourism director of the Portuguese National Tourist Office; and
  
• Geoff Hadwick, editorial director of OPP; told the minister, that the residential tourism industry has been undervalued and has not spoken with one strong voice.  

“That is why we have decided to set up a proper lobby group,” Ferreira told the meeting, “so we can get 90% to 95% of all the resort developments in Portugal in membership and represent the views of people who have second homes in Portugal.”

Ferreira was adamant that the Portuguese residential sector “needs to concentrate much harder on image.”

Source: OPP.org.uk