Dionísio Pestana, Pestana Group President, has been voted ‘Personality of the Year 2004’ by the Portuguese-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (CPCB). This honour has, for many years, recognised outstanding personalities who have furthered relations between Brazil and Portugal. Last year’s award winner was Portugal Telecom President, Miguel Horta e Costa, while in 2002 the prize went to Sonae President, Belmiro Azevedo.
This year’s winner was awarded at the most important Luso-Brazilian business event of the year – a dinner in São Paulo to commemorate the 92nd anniversary of the CPCB. The ceremony included the presence of Brazilian Minister for Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Mr. Fernando de Magalhães Furlan, and the Portuguese Ambassador to Brazil, Dr. António Franco, who joined around 600 guests drawn from the ‘good and great’ in Brazil’s Portuguese business community.
Actress Cristiana Oliveira was hostess for the evening’s events, which also served to showcase some of the artistic talent Portugal has to offer in the shape of fadistas Nuno da Câmara Pereira and Pinto Bastos.
The Pestana Group has been a marked presence in the Brazilian hotel market since October 1999 and already represents around 20 per cent of the entire Portuguese group’s turnover. The Pestana Group is already a point of reference on the Brazilian hotel map, with six hotels representing some 55.6 million euros of investment.
