The momentum that he is referring to has to do with the fact that at least till the present time, the tourism numbers in the Algarve have been showing a positive and upward trend, and that he considers that this is reason enough for the Algarve to establish itself as an all year-round destination.

He appealed to businesses operating within the Algarve tourism industry to stay open for as long as possible because in his words, it is ‘essential’ to try and ‘keep facilities and infrastructures connected to tourism open’ during this coming winter; because that’s what is needed to start the process of reaching the goal of making the Algarve into a winter destination.

Silva continued to say that the Algarve tourism industry as a whole is working on the 2012/14 winter campaign and he said that the campaign has shown very positive results in securing about 100,000 nights to be spent in the region on top of all of those already contracted for this winter.

He stressed that the region has to affirm itself as a year-round destination and in order for this to happen, each and every public and private entity have to help create the conditions so as to reach this objective.

Mister Silva is quite uniquely experienced in the subject, having been mayor of Albufeira – one of the region’s major tourist hotspots – for a decade, and now being re-elected as the president of the RTA; he is quite aware of the seasonality aspect of the region and that’s why he is trying to change that.

We can only hope that he manages to do this for the overall good for everyone.

And it appears that starting with the month of June the Algarve and Seville started working together in order to promote each other as tourist destinations. This new cooperation being made possible by the signing of a protocol between the Algarve Tourism Board and the Diputacion Provincial de Sevilla – or Seville Country Council – on June 10.

According to Desiderio Silva – president of Algarve Toruism – the goal of the Algarve is to have a much greater visibility as a tourism destination in Spain. The idea of securing this protocol, which will be reciprocal in terms of promotion, is just one way of achieving this goal and allowing the Algarve tourism industry to materialize projects that value both the Algarvean and the Andalusian territories.

The ceremony to ratify the document took place in Faro on June 19.

This tourism alliance wants to make the Algarve one of the main travel choices for Spanish holidaymakers, hoping to, at the same time, enhance the Iberian destinations in the eyes of Algarvians through promoting the Spanish complementary tourism products throughout the year.

During the ratification ceremony, Desiderio Silva said that the protocol should also help to ‘increase the number of Spanish visitors in the south of Portugal, and of Portuguese visitors in the province of Seville’ a desired outcome that will prove to be very positive for hotels, restaurants, and all around for the businesses in both countries.

At the ceremony, the vice-president of the Diputacion Provincial de Sevilla – Maria Dolores – was also present, and she presented Seville as a destination for Algarve residents.

It appears that a similar project is underway for regional tourism as well, because what better place to start promoting one’s touristic capabilities than in one’s own country.

The project is called ‘Rediscovering the Algarve’s Secrets’ and is part of the tourism authority’s push to show both journalists and tour operators alike some of the region’s hidden gems. Focusing on the ‘hidden’ part might just be one of the things needed to boost the region’s tourism, since the major gems are quite popular by now.

The first of these ‘familiarization trips’ will be held in Alcoutim on April 18 and the twenty participants will be exploring the region as well as its tourism potential as well as partake in a number of special activities prepared for their enjoyment.

A statement from Desiderio Silva – the president of the Algarve Tourism Board – said that journalists are needed to be made aware of the Algarve from a different perspective, so that they can then in turn help to ‘sell’ the destination much better through their own experiences. The idea behind  this initiative being that the Algarve has many more points of interest with high tourist potential that are not known to the wider holiday-making public, and this will definitely help.

Other familiarization trips are planned to take place until the end of the year, with the next one taking place in Albufeira in May.

A great idea, and quite an innovative one, showing that the Algarve Tourism Board is seriously looking into all sorts of solutions to their overall problems; the effects of this project won’t be very large and most likely won’t be seen for a couple of months at least, but they project is definitely a step in the right direction.