A hundred exhibitors, mostly from the Algarve, mainly companies linked to nature and active tourism and local products and creativity, but also public entities, will fill the Aljezur Multipurpose Space for two and a half days, for the first edition of the Nature Tourism Biennial.
The event opens this Friday, September 26, at 16:30 pm, with the presence of the minister of Regional Development Poiares Maduro and the Secretary of State for Spatial Planning and Nature Conservation, Miguel Castro Neto.
On this first day, it will be open until 23:00 pm, on Saturday (the 27th) it will open from 11:00 am at 23h00 and on Sunday (the 28th), it will be open only to professionals from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm, then open to the general public until 22:00 pm.
But, in addition to the exhibitors, seminars, presentations and B2B meetings that will be held at Espaço Multiusos, the Bienal has a series of parallel activities, namely hiking and mountain biking tours and workshops, in which everyone can participate.
Aura Fraga, vice president of Vicentina, one of the three local development associations that promote the event, revealed to the Sul Informação that there was “a large number of tourist entertainment companies”, especially those that are installed or “work with low density areas”. “That was the main objective of the Bienal”, he stressed.
Some of the participants come from outside the region, at the invitation of the organization, because, underlined Aura Fraga, it was considered that “they could make a very important contribution to the structuring of nature tourism as a tourist product”. These are “surgically made invitations”. The goal, he stressed, is "to put Nature Tourism on the regional agenda, once and for all."
In this, which is the first initiative to bring together (almost) the entire offer of nature, active and cultural tourism existing in the Algarve, many hopes are deposited in national and international business meetings (B2B), organized by the CCDR Algarve's Enterprise Europe Network.
These meetings aim to provide a wide range of professional contacts to BTN exhibitors and visitors, in order to establish lasting partnerships and obtain new commercial contracts (for example with tour operators or international distributors), new technological solutions (such as software companies and mobile applications) or new services and equipment for the sector (energy solutions, outdoor entertainment equipment, etc).
The meetings will be attended by travel agencies, tour operators and specialized services and equipment companies for the sector, from various European countries and other regions of Portugal, specially invited for the purpose by the event's organizers.
Proposals for the general public, at the fair and around it
But, for those who are not professionals in the sector and just like nature tourism, what does this Bienal offer? “Visitors will be able to get to know the entire offer, which is important not only for tourists visiting the region, but also for the residents themselves, who often don't even know how much is done around here,” explains Aura Fraga.
For this reason, at the Bienal, in addition to exhibitors from various companies and institutions, there is a program of seminars and presentations, as well as parallel entertainment activities.
Of these, two walks and one mountain biking stand out. The walking tours are both on Saturdays, one organized by Almargem (the Via Algarviana link from Marmelete to Aljezur, starting at 9:00 am), the other organized by Rota Vicentina, a guided tour from Rogil to Aljezur (10:00 am). On Sunday, the same route as Via Algarviana will be covered, but now on an off-road bicycle. All information about these tours and respective registrations can be obtained here.
As for the conferences, the most interesting ones will bring to Aljezur the experience of Australia, Andalusia (Spain) and Pelion (Greece) on the way they organized their tourist product around surfing, bird watching and cultural and archaeological routes . For this, experts from these countries were invited, who will speak on Saturday, from 14:30 pm.
As for the presentations, one of them will be about Bikotel, a network of hotels specialized for tourists on bicycles (on the 28th, 14:00), the other will be about Casas Brancas as a Creative Tourism Network in SW Portugal (28, 15:30) . But the highlight will go, on Sunday, at 14:30 pm, to the presentation by illustrator Nuno Farinha «Scientific Illustration and Nature Tourism – the case of the Southwest tides».
All information about conferences and presentations can be consulted here.
The Nature Tourism Biennial is promoted by Associação Vicentina, which is the managing entity of GAL ADERE and project leader. The Bienal is financed by PRODER, within the scope of transnational cooperation, and carried out in partnership with the In Loco Association (GAL Interior Algarve Central) and Associação Terras do Baixo Guadiana (GAL Terras do Baixo Guadiana).
In its debut, the «Nature Tourism Biennale – Algarve 2014» joins Portugal, Greece and Spain, in a transnational partnership, around the promotion of the natural and cultural heritage of the destination, and, why is this intended to be the fair of nature tourism throughout the region, has the support of RTA, the Algarve Tourism Association and the municipality of Aljezur, as well as the partnership of other Municipalities and public bodies in the Algarve.
Notes: The photo is by João Mariano/Puro Algarve
The illustration is by Nuno Farinha
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