Located at either end of Portugal, the tourist boards representing Oporto and the Algarve have decided to work together to attract more Spanish tourists.
"These are two regions that complement each other in the offer," says Desidério Silva, head of tourism in the Algarve, as he attempted to justify joint participation of the regional boards at Fitur, the International Tourism Fair in Madrid, that starts on Wednesday 18th January.
In a successful attempt to give an over-complicated reason for the two regional tourist boards simply sharing a stand, Silva claimed this was all a strategy and the two regions working together would attract more tourists than if each had their own space.
"This joint action at Fitur will represent an added value for the Portugal brand and is an excellent strategy to combat seasonality in our destinations," said Melchior Moreira, president of Turismo do Porto and the North of Portugal. She is certain that the stand sharing arrangement is far more than just that, and it “underlines complementarity of two regions," quite…
Oporto should know more about the Spanish than the Algarve as Spaniards are the biggest tourist group for the north of Portugal with 23% of international overnight stays: in the Algarve the Spanish are the third after the British and Germans.
This is the first time that the two regional tourist boards have cooperated and shared a stand, justifiable on cost grounds alone.
A north-south alliance already has been worked on by Faro’s mayor and Oporto’s, Rui Moreira.
These council leaders have announced a "strategic alliance" between the two municipalities to promote the two cities although solid reasoning and a defined approach remain elusive.
