Publicity and bookings were the two objectives for Portugal’s participants at the British Birdwatching Fair that ended on August 21st in Leicestershire, UK.
'Birdwatching in the Algarve' was the broad theme at the joint stand for the Tourism Association of the Algarve and the Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds.
Also at the Fair were three privately funded specialist birdwatching businesses based in Portugal keen to sign up visitors for the autumn season.
Tourist chiefs have been banging on about ‘out of season tourism’ for a few years now but it has been left for tourism business owners to promote themselves in the absence, until recently, of any sort of coherent plan.
The Algarve's tourist board aims to strengthen the offering in the general ‘nature tourism’ market and, accordingly, says it will invest in promoting birdwatching as a strategic product and by attending the British Birdwatching Fair has been seen with SPEA at the largest international fair dedicated to ornithological tourism.
In addition to the SPEA stand at the UK event there was a record three Portuguese businesses represented, the most notable of which was Paradise in Portugal, the privately owned ecologically dedicated business run by the McClintock family whose figurehead, Frank, has almost singlehandedly been promoting birdwatching in Portugal for over twenty years from Quinta do Barranco da Estrada overlooking the Santa Clara dam at Santa Clara a Velha.
The Paradise in Portugal business has been a regular at the British Birdwatching Fair for a dozen years when it was the only Portuguese business represented, in fact it was the only representative from Portugal, period.
There were opportunities at the British Birdwatching Fair for experts to lecture on bird related topics and this year SPEA’s Domingos Leitão gave a talk called, ‘Watching birds in Portugal during winter, the spectacle of numbers’ with Frank McClintock amusing an audience of 150 with ‘A fabulous week’s Birding in Portugal!’
The cost to a small business of attending this UK fair, a small business which must justify at every cent of expenditure, is in the thousands which has to be recouped by increased bookings.
Paradise in Portugal also donated a week’s holiday to the Birdfair Auction, the proceeds of which go towards preservation and conservation projects, and a week’s holiday in a raffle plus two three-night stays. This sort of activity is essential in getting the passing crowds interested in Portugal as a birdwatching destination but it all comes at a cost.
In addition to specific birdwatching sites in Portugal that attract birdwatchers from around the world, the Sagres Birdwatching Festival in October coincides with the migratory period for many species which can be seen crossing this south western tip of Europe.
The first Sagres festival was in 2010 and there is a pent-up demand for birdwatching-related events but early haphazard organisation has not helped in getting a clear message across about what the Sagres festival is about, where it is and where to stay.
This will improve as time goes by, as Sagres indeed “is a place with a huge biodiversity and beautiful landscapes, is at this time of the year the main crossing point in Portugal for migratory birds, towards the warm lands of Africa.”
The October Sagres Bird Watching Festival (30 September to 05 October) includes more than 160 activities for visitors, including field trips, boat trips, courses, environmental education workshops, bird ringing and monitoring sessions, and more with some free of charge and others paid for.
The off-season birdwatching market clearly is growing and some intelligent targeted support is needed for those whose businesses are dependent on birdwatching. The tourist board has made a start, but 'being there' often is not enough.
If this niche market is to be developed seriously and profitably, there needs to be a coherent plan that pulls together that which exists and promotes the south of Portugal as one of the best birdwatching areas in the world.
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