The Algarve Tourism Association (ATA), the agency responsible for promoting the region's tourism to foreign markets, participated, together with the Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds (SPEA), in the British Birdwatching Fair, which is considered the largest international fair dedicated to ornithological tourism.
This event, which takes place every year in England, is aimed at all enthusiasts, professionals or amateurs, interested in birds and their observation, attracting, in each edition, thousands of visitors from various countries.
ATA's participation in this fair assumes a «strategic character, aiming to promote and position the Algarve as a reference destination for the practice of birdwatching», stresses that organism.
As one of the regions with the greatest potential for birdwatching in Portugal, given the great diversity of habitats and species it presents (some of them endemic), ATA's commitment to this specific product aims to "strengthen the offer of what is known as nature tourism, creating, in this way, conditions for the development of an integrated offer that is competitive at an international level within this segment, alongside other strategic products for the region, while contributing to alleviate the seasonality to which the Algarve is a target».
O birdwatching it is “today a rapidly growing activity all over the world, particularly in the United Kingdom, one of the most important source markets for tourists to the region”, stresses the ATA.
This niche market has been experiencing a «very significant adhesion» to the Algarve's tourism, in part due to the fact that important “hot spots”for bird watching, among which the Sapal de Castro Marim, the Ria Formosa and the Lagoa dos Salgados stand out.
For this reason, «more and more enthusiasts are visiting this destination with the aim of increasing their lists of observed bird species», adds the ATA.
Given the high international projection of the fair, during its participation in the British Birdwatching Fair, ATA took the opportunity to highlight the promotion of the Bird Watching Festival in Sagres, an event that, since 2010, takes place annually on this peninsula, in autumn, the time of year when the birds are migrating to the south, making this time one of the most interesting to observe.
This festival has aroused the interest of many fans of this sport, from all over the world, which is why it is already considered an «important contribution to the strategy of internationalization and consolidation of Nature Tourism in the Algarve».
ATA's presence at this fair was also relevant with regard to "partnering with international operators specialized in this product", with a special focus on the predominant issuer markets (United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands), but also on markets with high potential for growth for the region, as is the case of France, Scandinavia and the United States of America.
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