Desidério Silva, president of the Algarve Tourism Board has broken one of the key rules of public relations by rising to the bait, this time laid by journalist Henrique Raposo writing in Expresso.
Raposo, in a fit of pique, made several less then complimentary observations about the Algarve´s people and published them in a nation newspaper.
“To kick off with, I get irritated by the militant unfriendliness of pure Algarvians, typical of Odiáxere, Vila Real, Monte Francisco, Castro Marim and Monte Gordo, but which also crops up in cities such as Portimão and Lagos. Finding a pleasant Algarvian is almost as hard as finding an Espírito Santo (family member) who is good at maths.”
“Indolent, insolent and characterised by a general lack of smiles,” is the hack´s summary of the Algarve people´s character.
Rather than ignoring this unwarranted critique, or issuing a statement saying Raposa is of course allowed and welcome to express his opinion, Desidério Silva has sent out a press release rejecting the columnist´s views, saying the piece “disregards Algarvians and the country’s main holiday destination, jeopardising the good name of the region.”
Raposo kicked off his admittedly vitrolic piece by writing, “For twenty years I have maintained a love-hate relationship with the Algarve,” yet he concentrated on the things he hates about the region.
Raposo´s writing was structured by a comparison between the Espirito family´s collapsed empire and the inhabitants of the Algarve but instead of rising above the criticism, Silva has attracted more attention to the 30-year old writer´s views.
“The columnist is referring to people who are among the best in welcoming tourists. Do I need to remind you of the 2013 study by the World Economic Forum which highlighted the hospitality and kindness of the Portuguese placing the country seventh on a ´niceness´ list?" huffed the president.
Silva threw in some more statistics and referred to a University of the Algarve study showing that Portuguese visitors have a strong affinity with the Algarve people.
Desidério Silva ended his defence by thanking all those who worked in tourism in the region.
Hopefully, Raposo will leave it at that but Silva has provided enough ammunition for the columnist really to let rip in response should he still feel bitter and angry at his poor treatment by locals along there shores.
So, Sr Silva, how about offering Raposo a free weekend in one of the Algarve´s top boutique hotels such as Fazenda Nova, fine dining and beachside grilled fish, sunset drinks on a yacht and fishing or dolphin watching?
The press often just want to be loved - embrace your enemy!
