Tourism News for October
Tall ships visit Funchal
Pictures and arrangement by Tobi Hughes
In October, destination Madeira is the stage for various sports and cultural events which will fill the
remaining sunny days of Autumn. Make the most of this balmy climate and the still very pleasant
temperature of this month, and go swimming in the sea or simply relax on an inviting esplanade. Make
sure you also get to know the fairs and promotional events in which Madeira will be represented this
month.
Round the Island by Bicycle – Madeira
From 04 to 12 October, Madeira will host the XXXII Round the Island by
Bicycle event, a race included in the category of junior and amateur cycling.
This race, which covers the entire island of Madeira giving a different colour
to its regional roads, is organised by the Associação de Desportos da Madeira
(Madeira Sports Association) and will involve regional, national and
international cyclists.
IV Madeira Paragliding Meeting - II National WIND Meeting
Organised by the Associação de Voo Livre da Madeira (Madeira Free Flight
Association), from 2 to 5 October of the present year, is the 4th Madeira
Paragliding Championship, an event of national coverage designated as the
‘IV Madeira Paragliding Meeting - II National WIND Meeting’.
This event, included in the commemorations of the V Centenary of the City of
Funchal, will involve approximately 70 pilots from different regional and
national clubs.
The event will begin with a leisure component, where regional and national
pilots can make use of the first two days (Thursday and Friday) to train and
to test the flying conditions over the city of Funchal (Funchal Ecological
Park/Funchal beach), thus accompanying the nautical spectacle of the ‘Tall Ships Race’ taking place at
the same time in Funchal bay.
Regional Meeting of Bands – Ribeira Brava
In the month of October, at the end of the traditional religious feasts, the
village of Ribeira Brava welcomes the annual Regional Meeting of Bands.
This cultural and tourism oriented initiative,was created in an attempt to
conserve Madeira’s musical heritage and to publicly pay tribute to the
extraordinary collaboration of the Philharmonic bands in favour of the public
entertainment initiatives and the indisputable joyfulness that they instil into
Madeira’s traditional feasts.
A parade of all the bands will take place on Sunday 12th, at 16h, through the
main streets of the town of Ribeira Brava. Then the bands get together in the
stage at the coastal avenue and each band presents its individual repertoire,
usually for 10 minutes.
The meeting ends with a combined anthem composed specifically for the occasion. Trophies are then
handed out, and a celebration follows.
FICF - Festival Internacional de Cinema do Funchal (Funchal
International Cinema Festival)
From 07 to 15 November
A The 4th edition of the International Film Festival of Funchal, FIFF-Madeira,
will be held at the Baltazar Dias Municipal Theatre, from 7 to 15 November.
The main aim of the FIFF is to publicise quality cinematography as yet
unknown to the people of Madeira.
This festival welcomes the participation of feature films, in the 35mm format,
produced between 2006 and 2008, which shall compete for the “Caravela de
Prata” (FIFF Silver Caravel) award. The programme of the festival can be
found at the official website of FICF, which is www.funchalfilmfest.com .
TUI awards Albergaria Dias
A Albergaria Dias, a 4 star hotel located in the old part of the city of Funchal,
was elected by the customers of the TUI tour operator as the ‘Best Hotel in
the World’ and ‘Best Hotel in Western Europe, Mediterranean and Canaries’.
The selection of this hotel from Madeira was based on the result of 500
thousand questionnaires filled in by TUI customers and covered a total of 12
thousand hotels spread all over the World.
This small hotel has only 35 rooms, allowing for the provision of personalised
and family service, which was a factor differentiating it from its most direct
competitors.
It should also be noted that of the nine Portuguese hotel selected (Riu Palace
Madeira, Éden Mar, Pestana Palms, Alpino Atlântico, Albergaria dias, Jardim Atlântico, Quinta da Penha
de França, Riu Palace Algarve and Casabela), seven are situated in Madeira, which confirms the
excellence of the quality of the hotels in Madeira.
Hotel Jardim Atlântico recognised
The North American television channel “Fine Living” awarded Hotel Jardim
Atlântico as one of the ten best eco-resorts in the world, being notable as the
only European hotel to achieve this distinction.
The hotel, located in Prazeres, Calheta, ranked in seventh place in the “topten”
of the abovementioned television channel, receiving special mention for
its environmental practices and awareness, provision of service to guests,
and also for the more than 30 awards it has received since its opening in
1993, most of which refer to good environmental practices.
The North American site also makes specific mention of the “Passeio dos pés
descalços” (“Barefoot walk”), essentially an exercise of reflexology which
ends in a waterfall which runs down the mountain and is used for agricultural irrigation in Prazeres.
It should be noted that “Fine Living”, through its television channel and site (www.fineliving.com) has an
average monthly audience of 3.6 million people, the vast majority of which comprise the high
consumption segments, greatly concerned with ecological issues and the protection of Nature.
New air link
From the end of October, the Madeira destination will have yet another air
link between Madeira and Lisbon with two regular daily air links, operated by
the British low cost company EasyJet.
According to the airline company, the “enormous tourist potential” of Madeira
was one of the factors which led to the interest in the Lisbon-Madeira route,
and it aims to establish itself as the reference low cost company at Madeira
airport and achieve leadership in this segment.
EasyJet has operated at Madeira Airport since October 2007, offering daily
flights from Stansted, 5 weekly flights from Gatwick and 3 weekly flights
from Bristol.
Intense promotion of Madeira throughout Europe
The month of October marked the full return to action promoting destination
Madeira, with special attention to emerging markets such as Poland and
Romania.
On 8th October, destination Madeira will be present at the Reed Business
Forum, an event entirely devoted to the MI product (meeting incentives),
which will be held in Amsterdam. On the 14th and 15th, the cities of Vienna
and Graz respectively, will receive a workshop on destination Madeira, where
the novelties of the destination will be promoted on a market which has been
gaining an increasingly greater share of the market share.
In Poland, more specifically in Poznan, the 19th Tourism Fair Tour Salon will
be held on the 16th to 18th October, a highly reputed event visited by a vast number of professionals
and the general public in which the destination Madeira will be present with an exhibition module.
From the 22nd to 24th October, Madeira will be represented at the 36th Exhibition of Tourism and
Brazilian Congress of Tourism Agencies, to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with a Destination Module
integrated in the Portuguese Stand.
Aimed at increasing the volume of Romanian tourists to the Autonomous Region of Madeira, Madeira will
be present, from the 23rd to 26th October, at yet another session of the international tourism fair of
Romania, TTR – The Tourism Fair of Romania with an area of 9 m2.
Montreux, in Switzerland will receive, from the 29th to 31st October, the 33rd TTW - Travel Trade
Workshop, a fair destined only for tourism professionals, in which the destination Madeira will be
promoted.
From the 31st October to 3rd November, yet another session of the Launching of the Catalogue of the
German Tour Operator Jahn Reisen/LTU will be held in Berlin under the name “REWE Touristik”. This
event will include the presence of travel agencies, hotels, companies linked to the tourist sector and
Tourism Regions of different countries and parallel activities will be organised such as conferences and
different presentations on subjects linked to current trends in the international tourist sector.
Source: Madeira Turismo