By: CECÍLIA PIRES
NEW LEGISLATION due to come in next year will see many changes to the way Tourism Boards are run and the new president of the Algarve Tourism Board, the former Faro Civil Governor, António Pina, is demanding more power for his organisation.
Speaking to The Resident, he said that he hopes to persuade more private investors to get involved in his development strategy for the region, including expatriates who run businesses here.
António Pina took the top job at the Algarve Tourism Board on June 6, after an unexpected invitation from his party, the socialist party, whose first candidate had to step aside due to personal problems.
The initial reaction from the trade was very critical, but now the new president believes he has gathered everyone’s support. “Coming to the RTA was not in my professional plans,” he said. As the Faro Civil Governor, he said he “was doing very well” and that’s why he understands “people’s reaction to the election”.
“In fact,” he said, ”if they had accepted me immediately, I would have considered it very irresponsible. After all, I’m not a professional from the trade.”
Supported by a team of experts from all areas of the tourism sector, the new RTA president is now focusing on developing the promotion of the Algarve as a top quality holiday destination. For that, he is hoping to have the involvement of all, including foreign investors with business in the region. While new legislation is expected for the Regional Tourism Boards, one of the first priorities for António Pina is to fight for more power for these regional institutions.
“I expect the new legislation to include more power for the regional tourism boards, but I would also like to see the trade more involved in the important decisions for the sector,” he told The Resident.
By involvement, António Pina said he means, for example, that all strategic decisions about projects with local relevance for the tourism sector must have an official report from the trade in the future.
This, he said, is the only way of preserving a sustainable and balanced development for the Algarve.
Foreign investment
Regarding the involvement of foreign investors, he said: “There are many people wanting to invest in the Algarve. All of them with good proposals.
“However, we must now be very selective, and only approve projects with high standards of quality.”
The five stars concept for tourism in the Algarve is now the main objective of official organisations like the RTA. “There’s no space for anything else,” António Pina said, selecting projects like the new local airports in Portimão and Loulé, the race track in Portimão, the golf resorts expected for the western Algarve and the new marinas along the coast, to justify this new orientation for the region’s investment plans.
“People coming to the Algarve will go to these high quality resorts and will look for high quality entertainment services,” he said. “We are hoping to attract international jet set personalities and put the Allgarve brand in the international circuits of what is on.”
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