Faro’s Câmara President believes that, if the city uses its imagination, it could soon become one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Algarve. José Vitorino was speaking at a press conference to announce plans for a new hotel – part of his scheme to triple the number of hotel rooms in the regional capital. Vitorino described the new hotel, which will be built in the old town, as “charming” and confirmed that the plans had already been “favourably received” by the Direcção-geral de Turismo.
The city leader also confirmed that another hotel is to be built in the Parque Desportivo e Lazer de Faro, in Penha, near the municipal swimming pool. Together, the two hotels will boost the number of beds available in the city by 1,500. Vitorino went on to say that, although there are already 800 hotel rooms available in Faro, the fact that none of them offer five-star accommodation is “unacceptable”.
“We are going to transform Faro into an important destination for in the Algarve,” he said. “We have the characterful city on one hand and the beach on the other.” According to Vitorino, the fact that Faro is the port of entry for millions of tourists to the region should also work in the city’s favour.