The first of these is a seminar ‘Algarve, a Safe Destination’, which will take place on 10 April from 3pm to 6pm, in the Portimão Museum Auditorium. With a key focus on communication, its aim is to promote a joint reflection on the policies, measures and actions that continue to make the region one of the safest tourist destinations in the world.


This event, which will be in Portuguese, will be attended by the Secretary of State for Internal Administration, Isabel Oneto, the president of Regional Tourism Algarve, João Fernandes; the President of the Association Safe Communities Portugal, David Thomas, the president of the Portimão City Hall, Isilda Gomes, and representatives of entities such as the Public Security Police (PSP), the National Repub-lican Guard (GNR) and the Portuguese Association for Victim Support (APAV).


Two awareness-raising events take place in two of the Algarve’s main tourist locations: Faro airport arrival area on 15 April from 9.30am to 1pm and the Mar Shopping centre, in Loulé on 17 April from 11am to 8pm. The aim of these is to share in a positive and relaxed way all tourist inform-ation and security advice in the Algarve.


The comprehensive perspective on security and safety issues will be discussed at the Conference on Tourism - Responding to the Effects of Climate Change and High Impact Events on 10 May from 9.30am to 3.30pm at the School of Hospitality and Tourism of the Algarve, in Faro. This will be the first national conference to discuss these issues. Creating greater awareness in the tourism sector of the risk of high-impact events and current prevention and protection measures, sharing best practice in the sector in these areas and identifying which issues may be applied are some of the objectives of this meeting.


David Thomas, President of Safe Communities Portugal, stated that it is essential that we find new innovative ways of delivering safety and security awareness messages and these events reflect this.


According to Mr. Thomas, various studies undertaken have found that safety and security are key factors for people deciding on a holiday destination. “It is vitally important therefore that the region is prepared and that all those in the tourism industry are fully aware and engaged in helping keep the region safe”, he says.


The series of events with Safe Communities Portugal are part of a protocol with the Ministry of Internal Administration under the Local Security Contract (CLS Programme), and in association with the RTA Algarve Tourism Board and a number of other public and private entities and safety-awareness associations.


More details about these events can be found on the news page of www.safecommunitiesportugal.com and www.safecommunitiesalgarve.com and through the Safe Communities Portugal Facebook page.