Tourism entrepreneur honoured with street named after him
Tourism entrepreneur André Jordan, the founder of Quinta do Lago resort and a man credited with bolstering the luxury golf resort tourism concept in Portugal, was honoured last week with a street named after him in Vilamoura, near Praia da Falésia.
The ceremony was held on Friday (June 9) and was attended by André Jordan’s son, Constantino Jordan.
“Unfortunately, my father could not be here today due to health reasons, but he is represented here by us, his family, and each and every one of you because he always felt great friendship for the entire municipality of Loulé, where he spent a large part of his life,” Constantino Jordan said.
“We are here today to honour all the work he carried out in Vilamoura. He would always work with all his heart; he would not stop until he had done his best. In the name of our entire family, I want to thank you for this tribute,” he added.
Loulé mayor Vítor Aleixo praised André Jordan as an “exceptional man” and a “businessman of uncommon qualities”, who was “faithful to his nature as an entrepreneur” but knew how to conduct his business “tastefully, with art, balance, elegance and great awareness about the relationship between the economy and the environment.
“Economic growth didn’t have to exist at the expense of the environment. The economy had to fit in with the environment to create value, to create excellence, to create economic activity. That is why he made Quinta do Lago the resort we know today,” said Aleixo.
The mayor added that it is due to the “extraordinary vision of this brilliant man” that the Algarve is now a leading international tourism destination.
The mayor also praised André Jordan’s role in the development of Vilamoura at a time when it needed to “regenerate and take a leap forward.
“André Jordan was responsible for a new phase of development, and we are still following the guiding lines that were drawn out at the time. Good examples should be praised. He should have more followers and admirers among businesspeople because there is no doubt that without beauty, good sense, balance and a harmonious and sustainable relationship with the environment, the economy will be compromised,” he added.
Vítor Aleixo also said that André Jordan recently expressed his “displeasure at the proliferation of billboards” and the visual pollution they cause.
“We don’t want that see our region and borough start to lose value. We need to be sensible and wise. We want to have an enlightened business class, which invests and has good return, and to do so, we need good sense, balance … we need to look at the man whose name has been given to this avenue because he was an example of all of this,” the mayor said.
André Jordan to receive ‘Key of Humanism’
The mayor of Loulé also announced that André Jordan is due to receive the ‘Chave do Humanismo’ (Key of Humanism), the highest honour that a local council can award to someone. The only people to have received it so far are José Ramos-Horta, President of East Timor; José Maria Neves, President of Cape Verde; and Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa.
Promising a speech with “much more carefully chosen words”, Vítor Aleixo said that the ceremony to award André Jordan with the accolade will be “completed deserved and earned” and will take place with the entrepreneur in attendance.
Original article written by Bruno Filipe Pires for Barlavento newspaper.
