The Algarve Tourism Board has never been accused of missing out on a good party.
The opening of direct air connections to Faro from Madrid by Air Nostrum, and Barcelona by Vueling, is all the impetus needed for a full PR blast at the Portuguese embassy in Madrid.
The public relations bash is for travel trade, tour operators, media, other related organisations and general liggers and will take place May 28th.
The president of the Algarve’s Tourist Board, Desidério Silva, Portugal’s ambassador Francisco Ribeiro de Menezes, the coordinator of Tourism of Portugal, Maria de Lurdes Vale, and airline representatives, will be chatting over some Algarve cataplana while a selection of regional wines are quaffed with gusto.
A similar launch party will take place on June 16th at the Barcelona Hilton marking the opening of the Vueling direct connection to Faro that starts service on June 20th.
The start of the airline routes is good enough reason for two boondoggles to the Algarve for journalists from Spanish travel and tourism publications and some obligatory bloggers.
Silva commented, "the opening of these routes is very good news, especially now that the Spanish market is booming in the Algarve, having registered a rise of around 25% in 2014 for overnight stays. It is expected that this year we can reach the million mark."
The inaugural flight will take place on June 1st for the Faro-Madrid link, and on June 20th for the Faro-Barcelona service.
Air Nostrum is a subsidiary of Iberia which is owned by IAG, itself formed by the merger with British Airways.
Vueling serves over 100 destinations in Africa, Asis and Europe and is currently the second largest airline in Spain. It has been run since 2007 by Barbara Cassani, former chief executive of Go Fly, the British Airways low-cost subsidiary.
Air Nostrum
http://www.airnostrum.es/home.asp?idioma=2
Vueling
