Vilamoura ‘City of Excellence’

Vilamoura 'City of Excellence'

Vilamoura ‘City of Excellence’

Vilamoura ‘City of Excellence’: has been recognized with the Flag Level III – winning a City of Excellence title. The award recognizes innovative practices in the areas of accessibility for all pedestrian and cycling mobility.

The award ceremony was held at Inframoura headquarters, in Vilamoura. The award of the “City of Excellence – Level III” Flag reflects the public recognition of the work that this company has been developing in the field of urban qualification. This recognition is due to the degree of evolution of the Local Action Plan proposed by Inframoura when joining the Network of Cities and Villages of Excellence, focusing on the “City or Village Accessible for All” and the “City or Village Cyclable and Friendly Mobility”.

The Network of Cities and Villages of Excellence recognizes with this award the wealth of plans, projects, actions and initiatives in the context of smooth mobility, which took place and will take place in the public space of Vilamoura, aiming to make this urban nucleus more universally accessible and focus on smooth travel modes.

Vilamoura receiving the prize 'city of excellence'

Vilamoura receiving the prize ‘city of excellence’

When Inframoura joined the Network of Cities and Villages of Excellence, several plans and studies were developed in Vilamoura, among which were the Vilamoura Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan; the Action Plan for the Vilamoura Cycle Network; Framework of directional vertical signaling and the Vilamoura pedestrian signaling project.

Focusing on the smooth modes of travel, the project was considered for the creation of the bike paths; the monitoring of pedestrian mobility; the implementation of an energy-independent Wifi distribution network and an environmental monitoring system at Avenida Engº João Meireles. Expansion of the sensor network and monitoring of the use of the bicycles in urban living and development of the mobile app to use the shared bicycle system was also recognised.

Vilamoura - pedestrian and cycling mobility

Vilamoura – pedestrian and cycling mobility

Projects and initiatives such as the replacement of conventional low energy efficiency lamps by LED technology, the implementation of the citizen’s app – Inframoura Share, the design of Inframoura’s integrated fleet management system and the collaborative project with the International College of Vilamoura, were also considered for this award.

Finally, the Network stressed with importance the action of implementing the terminals for charging electric vehicles in Vilamoura. The actions and projects previously described led to making Vilamoura a case of excellence in terms of accessibility for all, especially pedestrian mobility and cycling.

12º Portugal Masters – Lucas Bjerregaard – In Vilamoura to defend the title on the Dom Pedro Vitoria Golf Course

Portugal Masters 2018

Portugal Masters

Lucas Bjerregaard has pledged to return to the stage of his first European Tour victory and will defend Portugal Masters title at the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course in
September 20-23.

The Danish produced one of the best displays of his career to win in Vilamoura last year and now seeks to enter history and become the first player to revalidate the title of the Portugal Masters.
Bjerregaard came to the Algarve a year ago in a delicate situation, trying to keep his European Tour card for this season, but he found his best form at the right moment and reached the last round of the tournament with the lead secured by a 1 shot.

Already twice the 27-year-old player had seen himself in that leading position at the entrance for a final round, having finished 2nd at the UBS Hong Kong Open in 2015 and tied for 3rd at the Volvo China Open in 2017.
This time he did not falter and fired 8 birdies in a last round of 65 strokes to close the tournament with an aggregate of 20 under Par, beating Marc Warren for 4 strokes.

Lucas Bjerregaard - Winner of the Portugal Masters 2017

Lucas Bjerregaard – Winner of the Portugal Masters 2017

After this victory, Bjerregaard reached another six top 10 on the European Tour, namely a 3rd place (tied) in the BMW PGA Championship, his highest ever rating in a Rolex Series tournament.
Portugal Masters is a special event for me and I look forward to trying to defend my title,” he said.
“My last round of last year is one of the best ever. Some of the shots I did under pressure were some of the best I’ve done in a long time. I really enjoyed being able to confirm my lead in the tournament after the third round and take that trophy, having already been in that position before without being able to take advantage of it, “he added.
“Since then I have been able to add some more good results this season and I would love to repeat the one made at Dom Pedro Victoria, “concluded the Danish who this year is not having any difficulties in keeping is European Tour card and is well placed in the top 40 of the Race for the Dubai of 2018. Portugal Masters was born in 2007 and in its list of champions they appear winners of Majors like the Irishman Padraig Harrington, the former # 1
Lee Westwood of England and his compatriot and partner on Ryder Cup team Andy Sullivan.

The two million euro prize money tournament returns for the 12th consecutive year to the course designed by the champion Arnold Palmer. Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course, an authentic golf sanctuary in the south of Portugal.
Tickets for the 2018 Portugal Masters are on sale until Sunday, September 16th for those who wish to enjoy a reduced price, but also at the entry desks of the tournament.

Algarve Wine Commission reinforces bet on wine tourism

Algarve Wine Commission reinforces bet on wine tourism

Algarve Wine

Allying tourism with wine harvesting in the Algarve is one of the priorities of the Algarve Wine Commission (CVA, in Portuguese), in line with the Algarve producers, in order to draw thousands of tourists to the region’s wineries.

With this premise, the CVA launched, at the beginning of this year, the Map of the Wine Region of the Algarve, distributed free of charge, in collaboration with Turismo do Algarve, at tourist offices and also through other tourism promoters, like Tee Times Golf Agency.

It is a “practical and accessible way for any visitor to find the location of all regional producers, their contact and associated services, from wine tasting to the sales and guided tours.”

Algarve - Regions with Designation of Origin

Regions with Designation of Origin

In this sense, CVA is now preparing a mobile application to be launched by the end of the year, which will allow access, in an updated and geolocalized way, to the wineries on the map.

The app will make available not only the information contained in the Map of the Wine Region, but also associate it with the Algarve’s wine commercialization sites, including news and events associated with the Vinhos do Algarve brand.

On the other hand, according to the CVA, the Algarve producers are also betting on wine tourism “on a consistent basis and with their own programs”.

With the approach of the grape harvest, there are several possible options, one of the examples being the partnership of Quinta da Tôr with the Loulé Council, which integrates grape harvesting in its Loulé Criativo project, which aims to promote the Algarve identity through participation in activities.

“Nothing better than promoting a territory with the possibility of participating in a harvest day with a local producer and in an area as typical as the interior of Loulé, where the Quinta da Tôr is located,” the commission points out.

Vineyard in Algarve

Vineyard in Algarve

The program does not only include work in the vineyard, but also the traditional wine conviviality, especially at lunch, with products and wine from the Algarve, allied to the practical part of making the wine in a traditional way, with the footsteps of the clusters already in the cellar.

“These types of proposals are starting to be appear regularly and generalized in the region, with more wine tourism being a product that is gaining more and more fans and that can not pass alongside a region that is already the most visited and needs to enjoy this flow to diversify the supply, “concludes the Algarve Wine Commission.