«Instead of crying, because the real estate market, and not just that, in the Algarve is bad, what demand can we serve?» It was based on this idea that a group of businessmen from the Algarve, led by Constantino Jordan, decided to launch the campaign «Algarve: Come and Live Here/Algarve: Come and live here», aimed at attracting residents from central and northern countries to the region. from Europe.
«This campaign was motivated by the situation that Portugal and the Algarve have been living through for a year, and which caused a serious recession. I, who live and work in the Algarve, thought: what am I going to do now? What can motivate people to live in the Algarve?”, explained real estate developer Constantino Jordan, in an interview with Sul Informação.
Based on these basic ideas and also on the assumption that, «if the Algarve is not the same as it used to be, the world is not», a group of Portuguese and foreign entrepreneurs started by launching the blog «Algarve eat and Live here». What started out as a (good) idea from this group of businessmen, based mainly in Almancil, is now contaminating the region.
Cláudia Fonseca, from the company Nata Design, who almost since the beginning was associated with the campaign, explained that the objective is “to value the Algarve and everything we have here, find a way to communicate this and attract new residents”.
Because the entrepreneurs who have been involved in the campaign do not have much money to spend, the idea is, according to Cláudia Fonseca, to bet «on viral marketing, on word of mouth», with everyone contributing to «distribution of materials and the message of the campaign".
«For now, everything is being done in digital support», adds the communication specialist. On the blog, campaign supporters can download the posters and print them. With the participation of rent-a-car companies, stickers with the campaign slogan will also be distributed, which will be placed on cars. The concession of space on billboards available to municipalities throughout the Algarve is also being negotiated with the Municipal Councils. The campaign also aims to reach the media and the public by making use of reference people who come from these target countries – those in Central and Northern Europe – but who live in the Algarve and know the region well.
But what do you intend to Campanha, in the end?
According to Constantino Jordan, he intends to attract new residents to the Algarve, people from Central and Northern European countries who buy or rent a house here to live. And what kind of people?
«Professionals from the most diverse areas who do not need to work in a fixed place, because they are always connected to everything through the internet», but also «seniors and retired», «athletes», «artists», people interested in «zen and well-being» .
“There are certainly a lot of people in Northern Europe who want to come south. The Algarve is still little known, but when people come here, they are delighted. Therefore, it is necessary to make the Algarve known and attract these people», guarantees the entrepreneur.
As for potential new residents, Constantino Jordan recalls that “the internet allows you to work anywhere in the world. Nowadays there are more and more people who don't need to work in a fixed place, inside a company's premises. Someone who is a German, or Dutch, or English project manager, no longer goes to the premises, but works via the internet».
And you can do it perfectly in the Algarve, whose international airport «is connected to more than 60 destinations across Europe, at low cost, where the climate is wonderful, the quality of life is high, the houses and the cost of living are cheaper".
“I personally know several of these cases, of people who work for large companies based in London, for example, but who almost never have to travel there, because they work from home, via the internet. And it's cheaper to travel from Faro to London, than from Manchester».
These people, guarantees Constantino Jordan, are ready, “they just need a push, a help in terms of information, to exchange their cold countries in Northern Europe for the Algarve”.
Another big segment to attract is the seniors. «Many come here on vacation, but they were never asked to stay here, because today the Algarve has practically everything a senior needs. There are modern health structures here, in public and private hospitals, with the latest technology. Before, when foreign residents needed more medical care, they returned to their country, but today this is no longer necessary. The Algarve has not worked very hard on this market, although private groups are already betting on health tourism. But it must be shown that seniors can come and live in the Algarve, where the climate is superb, there are many leisure options, life is cheap, the people are friendly, and, on top of that, there are qualified doctors and modern hospitals with all technology».
In the area of Sports, Constantino Jordan thinks that the Algarve still has a lot to grow. And, in addition to the stages of major European football teams, which are at a standstill during the winter, he talks about the need to organize more tournaments between these teams. But he mainly refers to the “80 million North Europeans who take their sport very seriously and train every day. There are seniors in almost all sports and they need to know that in the Algarve, in the low season, when they cannot train in their countries, there are good conditions here for them».
The entrepreneur guarantees that the Algarve has many potential areas that it can develop and, above all, make known to attract new residents from Northern Europe. The «Algarve: Come and Live here» campaign has started to gain more traction in recent weeks, and already has the involvement of other companies such as Nata Design (marketing and communication), Algardata (blog programming), Garvetur, among others. Soon, anyone who wants to be a supporter will only need to go to blog and register.
«Algarve: Come and Live here» presents itself as a «civic movement to bring economic growth» to the region. The general slogan is: «If you like the Algarve, why not make it your home?»
«The Algarve receives five million visitors every year. If we reach 1%, we will have 50 thousand people, corresponding to 15 thousand families, buying a house here or renting, going to restaurants, shopping, attending shopping centers and golf courses, moving around. It would be gold on blue!” guarantees Constantino Jordan.
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