South Africa events hailed an outstanding success
Held in Johannesburg on November 11 and Cape Town on the 18th, the success of the two latest ‘Living in Portugal’ seminar events has proven, without doubt, that Portugal is still very much on the map for South Africans planning on relocating to Europe. Over 1,000 people registered online to attend the seminars ensuring packed sessions in both venues.
The ‘Living in Portugal’ events are organised by Open Media, publishers of the Portugal Resident, with two roadshows already having taken place this year in the USA as well as various local events here in Portugal.
“We have had great success with our events in the USA, but when we announced our South Africa roadshow earlier this year, we got a generally muted response from the companies we approached to take part,” said Bruce Hawker, CEO of Open Media. “But this did not deter us from going ahead as we had based our decision on solid facts that demonstrate the huge potential of the South African market.”
According to Bruce Hawker, the appetite for emigration from South Africa to Europe is at an all-time high: “The political situation is unstable, and security is a bigger concern now than at any time in recent history. What’s more, people have had to learn to live with issues such as load shedding (regular power cuts throughout the day). South Africans rightly love their country and, having visited twice this year myself, I can see why. But many people are concerned about their future and are either planning to emigrate as soon as possible or looking for a viable Plan B.”
Bruce went on to explain how South Africans have been largely misinformed over recent years regarding residency options in Portugal. “South Africans at one point ranked in the top few nationalities having taken up Portugal’s Golden Visa. The regime had been heavily promoted in the country, to the extent that many South Africans turned up here set on taking up the Golden Visa when they did not need to. In most cases, especially for those who wanted to live here full time, the simple D7 Visa was all they needed.”
The ‘Living in Portugal’ seminars provided visitors with a wealth of information on diverse aspects of moving to Portugal. The companies taking part in the roadshow were The Sovereign Group (residency and taxation), Sérvulo e Associados (legal), BlueCrow Capital (Golden Visa eligible investment funds), Currencies Direct (forex), Caixa Geral de Depósitos (banking), Global International Relocation (removals and logistics), Fine & Country (real estate), Dengun (start-ups and tech) and Luzdoc (medical services).
The success of the events was such that plans are already being made to repeat the roadshow in 2024.
Open Media’s next international roadshow event will take place in the USA, starting on February 24 in Austin, Texas, and also taking in Atlanta and Boston.
For more information, visit portugalseminars.com
