… with hotels at 97% occupancy
Yesterday afternoon, another edition of the Colombo Festival kicked off in Porto Santo, an event that alludes to the era of the Portuguese Discoveries and offers a variety of music and theatre shows to the population and tourists of the golden island.
The 14th edition of the Colombo Festival runs until this coming Sunday, the 17th. Present at the opening of the event, which had as its highlight the disembarkation of Cristóvão Colombo from the Nau Santa Maria, which purposely travelled to Porto Santo (photo) for that purpose, the regional secretary of Tourism and Culture, Eduardo Jesus, highlighted the fact that this initiative captivates thousands of people, thus boosting tourism in Porto Santo.
“I think this is one of the years that we have the greatest affluence. In fact, just today we confirmed the occupancy of the hotels here in Porto Santo, and it is at 97%, which means that technically everything is occupied”, said the official, who explained that the Colombo Festival has exactly this function of attracting even more visitors to the island. “It is a historical recreation that we hope can last as long as possible during the summer season, so that those who visit Porto Santo, especially those from outside Madeira, can stay here longer, prolonging the summer and giving more entertainment here to the island of Porto Santo”, he highlighted.
However, Eduardo Jesus also made a point of praising the involvement of the local community in organizing and promoting the Colombo Festival. “Naturally for us it is a great joy. An event like this only makes sense with the involvement of the community, the City Council, those who are part of the day-to-day life of Porto Santo, who through an event like this see themselves in their history, but also make themselves known to those who visit us”, he said.
In turn, Nuno Baptista, president of Porto Santo City Council, highlighted the importance of the Colombo Festival to combat the seasonality of tourism on the island.
“The best way to value the events is, without a doubt, the number of people who attend. Porto Santo is completely full at this time, in September, which is very good for us. The Colombo Festival is already a tradition, and I think who had the power, through the Regional Secretariat of Tourism and Culture, to show that the events were really a way to help break the much talked about seasonality”, he stated.
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