Meeting News - July 7, 2008 - (Page 18)

International In Portugal, Influx of Infrastructure Is Ahead Almost 60 new properties and attractions set to open within the next three years A massive amount of new infrastructure is afoot for Portugal, with 57 travel and tourism projects in the pipeline between now and 2011, worth an estimated investment of $8.7 billion. The areas receiving the most investment include Porto, Lisbon, Madeira, and the Azores. Lisbon, the capital of Europe’s westernmost country, is getting 20 new hotels, but the biggest project out of the new infrastructure is a project by Sonae on the Troia peninsula, just south of the city. Sonae is building a 300-room luxury hotel and an ecological resort, a marina, an aquatic theme park, and a horseback riding center. In the Azores, the Golf Islands project on the island of Sao Miguel will usher in the area’s first “fivestar” hotel, which will serve Verde Golf Resorts’ two Troon Golf-managed 18-hole courses. The Azores are a group of Atlantic Ocean islands about 1,000 miles off Portugal’s coast. They are about a four-hour flight from Boston. Estoril, a coastal locale west of Lisbon, is pushing to establish itself as a major destination. Five luxury hotels are slated to open there, adding 1,150 guest beds to its inventory, which will reach 9,000 total beds. Edited by Rayna Katz rayna.katz@nielsen.com In the north, Porto and three other regions are being infused with $1.4 billion in investments within the next five years. The northern region has many UNESCO World Heritage attractions, including the historic section of Porto, the rock paintings at Foz Coa, and Alto Douro, where port wine was born. Portugal in style: Sonae on the Troia, a new luxury hotel and eco project, will feature rooms like this. EIBTM Hosts More Meeting & Event Planners; Leipzig Grabs ICCA The 2008 edition of the European Incentive, Business Travel, & Meetings (EIBTM) expo, which will take place, as always, in Barcelona this December, will feature a significantly expanded hosted buyers program. Reed Travel Exhibitions, EIBTM’s organizer, is recruiting new buyers from growing markets India, China, Brazil, Russia, and Poland. It is also courting more buyers from the U.S., Canada, and Middle East. By show time on Dec. 2, Reed expects to have 3,500 total buyers slotted into some 43,000 preset, prequalified buyer-supplier appointments over two days. After Dec. 4, many are expected to participate among 15 post-event tours of Euro18 MeetingNews July 7, 2008 pean destinations, including major cities London, Madrid, Amsterdam, Lisbon, and Venice. Registration to the hosted buyers program began in June. An innovation put in by Reed for this year’s show is recruitment of individual buyers in addition to the traditional solicitation of organizational buyers. Said hosted programs manager June Clark, “We are looking to attract meeting professionals who apply to be qualified individually. [They] could be organizers of events, conferences, international business travel, meetings, incentive travel, conventions, product launches, or training.” Not so new will be Reed’s furnish- ing of three hosted buyers lounges, and a complimentary buffet lunch, both likely back by popular demand. “We were delighted with both the numbers and feedback from hosted buyers at last year’s event,” said exhibition director Mandy Torrens, of EIBTM 2007’s 3,326 hosted buyers and 40,094 buyer-supplier appointments. “We hope to increase both again this year.” The German city of Leipzig outbid Pittsburgh and the tag-team of Dubai and Abu Dhabi to host of the 2011 International Congress & Convention Association’s World Congress. The ICCA annual is one of the global meetings industry’s biggest trade shows; Leipzig will host meet- ing planners from 80 nations. Leipzig, which has a hotel inventory of about 6,500 rooms, has been on a roll. The 2011 event will be ICCA’s 50th World Congress, promising a big celebration. Early this year, the city won the graces of Germany’s national tourism bureau, having been named its preferred partner for 2008. That meant an extra dose of marketing by the German Convention Bureau for Leipzig in sales calls, promotions, and other communications. Leipzig also recently debuted a revamped planners website, www.do-it-at-leipzig.de, with a venue and hotel search engine, and city information. r —Section written by William Ng www.meetingnews.com http://www.do-it-at-leipzig.de http://www.meetingnews.com

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Meeting News - July 7, 2008