Rabelo on the River Douro
Last week, Thursday 4th to Sunday 7th March, our General Manager, Anthony Swift visited a rainy Porto on a site inspection programme for the 3rd annual edition of the Wine Pleausres International Wine Tourism Conference & Workshop scheduled for the 31st January until the 3rd of February 2011.
The main purpose of the visit was to decide on a suitable hotel venue for the Conference and Workshop. Susanna Tocca of Event company, DOC-DMC prepared a jam – packed programme of hotel, Port Lodges and restaurant visits both in the city of Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia. Hotels visited as per programme schedule were Pousada de Porto, Palacio do Freixo, Sheraton, Infante Sagres, Pestana Palace, Porto Bessa Hotel and the yet to be finished, The Yeatman Hotel.
Just one of the many Port Lodges to visit
In between hotel visits we were able to visit the Sandeman and Taylor Port Lodges, hop on and off trams to sightsee and admire the beautiful tiled buildings of the city, try out the varied gastronomic delights such as freshly landed seafoods at one of the many restaruants in the Matosinhos area as well as in central Porto overlooking the Douro River.
Porto, one of the Great Wine Capitals of the World is just full of so many interesting cultural visits and having an international airport as well as of course being ideally located close to the Rotas do Vinho do Porto, do Douro, das Vinhas de Cister & dos Vinhos Verdes makes it a perfect setting for the Wine Tourism Conference & Workshop 2011.
So which hotel did we choose? It turned out to be an easy decision…..Clearly, the best hotel in terms of location, charm, service, views, price and above all clear desire to host this unique international wine tourism event was and is the Pousada do Porto, Palacio de Freixo.
Palacio do Freixo Venue Wine Tourism Confrence 2011
So with the venue set and the dates fixed we are ready to start preparations. The event structure and dates will be as follows:
Sunday 30th January: Pre- Conference Day for Bloggers and Media to include a winery visit programme, lunch and wine tastings. If you have a blog or write for any kind of relevant media then this is your day.
Monday 31st January to Wednesday 2nd February: 3 day Wine Tourism Conference of over 40 talks, poster presentations, workshops, panel discussions and symposiums. There will also be an extensive After Conference Programme on each day including wine tastings and visits.
Thursday 3rd February: Wine Tourism Workshop where international tour operators and travel agents, specialised in wine and food tourism (or about to embark on offering this type of tourism) will make the journey to Porto to meet wine tourism providers from around the world. From the 4th to the 7th Feb the tour operators will divide up into smaller groups and participate in 3 parallel Fam Trips.
Is your mouth watering yet?
We are also pleased to announce that DOC-DMC will be the official in-coming agent for the event and Susanna and her team will be taking care of your accommodation requirements aswell as any other services you may require upon arrival in Porto. DOC-DMC will also be providing a great deal of local support for the event
Companies and organisations are welcome to support the 2011 Wine Tourism Conference & Workshop through one of the many sponsorship opportunities available.
Over the coming weeks we will be updating our web site with information on all of the components that will make the Wine Conference and Workshop so please keep dropping by for the latest news. You can also get the latest news by following us on twitter @winepleasures
It's time for Porto
We look forward to welcoming you to Porto. You will meet old friends and meet new ones and most of all we are sure you will look back on your Porto experience as memorable.
During our days in Portugal we have shot several videos which you can view on our channel at YouTube. Here’s is a video interview with the Manager of the Pousado do Porto, Palacio do Freixo telling us a little bit about the history of the Palace and of course we finish up with a glass of ?:
This looks fantastic! I would love to be a part of this conference.
PORTO is a unique city, we will make sure you notice it ! Portwine brands standing illuminated in the dark heaven at night. The down town area all an open air museum and world culture heritage, Beautiful Douro Valley with all its wine treasures just by its side,
one of the hugest ports in Portugal, Matosinhos and Leça are the areas where you can get the freshest fish and shell fish you always dreamed of, and Minho, the Magic Reign of Vinho Verde, Save the date, as Porto and the North will all be an utmost pleasant surprise to all participants !