Lisbon’s Tourist Board has launched a taxi voucher scheme to provide local visitors with some basic consumer protection regarding price. The decision to launch this new payment system was taken following a large number of complaints presented by tourists to the Portuguese Authority for Economy and Food Safety (ASAE).

Between January and June 2006 the ASAE received some 100 complaints from tourists relating to rudeness and dishonest behaviour of taxi drivers. Most of the complaints were triggered by speculative prices; in some cases the tourist had been asked to pay twice the amount of money due for the taxi ride.

Others were related to the refusal of the taxi driver to give a receipt for the amount paid, as well as some cases in which the tourists were asked to pay an airport surcharge, which is illegal in Portugal.

Last year, ASAE officers posing as tourists carried out several surprise inspections which resulted in the detention of three taxi drivers caught swindling tourists in Lisbon. With the new system Portuguese authorities intend to reduce considerably the number of complaints.

As its name suggests, the taxi voucher is a pre-payment scheme that guarantees a fixed tariff for journeys not just in Lisbon but to countrywide towns, cities and regions such as Oporto and the Algarve.

Lisbon is divided into three taxi voucher zones, with respective day and night-time rates.

The bottom line is that journeys between Lisbon airport and any chosen location within the city are capped at a fixed rate of just over 20 euros, while visitors travelling to Estoril, Cascais and Sintra should not expect to pay more than around 40 euros and a bit more at night.

Taxi vouchers can be purchased at the Lisbon Tourism booth located in the arrivals hall at Lisbon Airport (tel: +351 218 450 660). It should also be noted that taxis operating under the scheme are subject to a strict code of quality and driver conduct. In Lisbon there are 3,490 taxis, of which 250 operate in the Lisbon Airport area.

According to the EU ranking of the largest cities by population, Lisbon is the European city that has lost the largest number of inhabitants over the last 10 years.

The ranking reveals that the Portuguese capital has lost one in five of its inhabitants in the space of a decade. The population drop in Lisbon is also the largest in Europe since the turn of the millennium, with a reduction of 8.9 per cent in inhabitants. Latest data published by the Portuguese Statistics Institute INE has confirmed this data, revealing that between 2001 and 2005, Lisbon lost 45,000 of its residents. In 2005 Lisbon, had 519,000 inhabitants and, according to INE, the number of residents could soon decline to under 500,000.

Sintra, located northwest of the capital, seems to have been the main recipient of the exodus and is set to dethrone Lisbon as the country’s most populous city within the next five years. A large part of Sintra’s urban areas are essentially residential suburbs.

According to recent statistics, Sintra's suburban railway is the most crowded suburban train system in Europe. Nevertheless, every year, millions of tourists are drawn by the cultural heritage in the town itself, the nature park of Serra de Sintra, the coastal beaches in the municipality and Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of mainland Europe, which lies 18 kilometres west of the city.

Sintra was classified by UNESCO as World Heritage and Cultural Landscape in 1995. The old part of town has a number of ancient castles which are also one of Portugal’s top tourist attractions. The city was considered by English poet Robert Southey, “the most blessed place of the inhabitable world”. Porto, which was for a long time Portugal’s second largest city has also been losing inhabitants and by 2001 was surpassed by Sintra and Vila Nova de Gaia, when it became Portugal’s fourth largest city.

Estimates of Portugal’s Institute for Social Sciences reveal that Sintra will be home to 479,000 inhabitants in 2011, eight thousand more than Lisbon. Vila Nova de Gaia will have a population of 320,000, whereas Porto will only have only 200,000 residents.

Portugal’s fifth largest city will be Loures (198,000), followed by Cascais (also 198,000), Seixal (187,000), Braga (182,000), Oeiras (178,000) and Gondomar (177,000).

Golf opportunities in Portugal are growing at a rapid pace, with the industry expecting a 21 percent increase in the next two to three years, according to ITP-Turismo de Portugal. In early January, tourism officials announced a plan for a 50 million Euro investment of public and private funds in promoting golf throughout Portugal. The expansion is expected to enhance Portugal's growing reputation as a premier golf destination.

Portugal's climate and topography make for a great golf environment. Some regions of the country experience 300 days of sunshine per year - ideal conditions for golf lovers, who currently have more than 70 courses from which to choose. The climate, combined with investments in the golfing infrastructure in recent years, has turned the country into a golfing haven. Portugal was recently named "Best Golf Destination 2006" by readers of Golfers Today, a British publication.

ITP wants to build on this success and work to promote golf opportunities in each region of the country. The Algarve and Lisbon Lisbon regions, as well as Madeira and the Azores, will be priority markets for high-end events, attracting visitors from the United Kingdom and Scandinavia. The unique features of Portugal's other regions will also be promoted with events throughout the seasons.

A key part of the plan is the Portugal Masters event, that will occur between October 18 and 21 at Victoria Clube de Golfe in Vilamoura. The event, part of the PGA European Tour, is expected to happen once a year until 2009 and to attract thousands of foreign visitors and an estimated 1.7 million golf matches, with worldwide television broadcasts. The Portugal Masters prize will be 3 million Euros, making it one of the most important competitions worldwide.

The Portugal Masters joins other important established golf events in Portugal - the Madeira Island Open in March, the Nations Cup in the Algarve region in March, the Estoril Open in April, the Ladies Open of Portugal in the Algarve in May, and the Azores Seniors Open in June.

Fourteen of Portugal's courses are rated in the top 100 best in Europe. Portugal is also a great location to learn the game and perfect technique. Many resorts offer classes with the pros. Courses can satisfy the most demanding golfer, while newcomers won't be intimidated, unless they find the beautiful landscapes and stunning vistas distracting to their game. Out on the many fairways, golfers will have views of dramatic red sea cliffs, bright blue seas, or, perhaps, a grove of mature pine trees.

For more information visit Visit Portugal

Discounts on great golf getaways in Ireland, Scotland and England are one of the new benefits for members of the Executive Women’s Golf Association (EWGA). Destination Golf has become a EWGA benefits provider offering members a 10% discount on the company’s custom designed golf tours which also include land and air packages to France, Italy, Spain and Portugal.

"What a valuable benefit for our members who want to experience worry-free luxury travel and golf throughout the world," says Pam Swensen, the chief executive officer of the EWGA. "Surveys show that EWGA members annually spend thousands of dollars on golf related travel. Our relationship with Destination Golf gives them new golf opportunities to explore and enjoy."

For more than a decade, Destination Golf’s team of travel experts in the United States and Europe has been helping clients experience their dream golf vacations. Itineraries in 2007 include Ireland Golf & Castle Tour, Women's British Open at St. Andrews and Scotland Golf Tour, Spain Golf & Culture Tour and Italy Golf & Cooking Tour.

Destination Golf specializes in custom designed tours that include castles and manors as well as luxury golf and spa resorts, arranging guided and self-driven itineraries for individual travelers and groups of all sizes. For a complete summary of services see www.Destinations-golf.com

"We look forward to introducing EWGA members to our personalized travel services and helping them discover golf in Ireland, Scotland and England where more than two thirds of the world's traditional links courses are found," says Declan O’Brien, president of Destination Golf. "We can also introduce them to golf in Continental Europe where culture, food, wine and of course golf are abundant in France, Italy, Spain and Portugal."

Since the EWGA started in 1991, more than 80,000 women have benefited from membership in the organization which is dedicated to providing opportunities to learn, play, and enjoy the game of golf for business and for life. There are currently 120 chapters throughout the USA and Canada.

EWGA chapters provide a wide range of golf, social and networking activities for both new and experienced golfers. A welcoming environment, golf education and player development, and organized play programs are part of the many benefits of EWGA membership, which also includes discounts on a wide array of golf, apparel, merchandise and services.


The EWGA is headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. For more information about the association and membership, visit www.ewga.com.

Scientists have found the fossilised remains of a 150 million-year-old stegosaurus in central Portugal. The discovery of the prehistoric creature, which has gigantic armoured plates zigzagging down its back, is further evidence that Europe and America were once joined.

"Stegosaurus is a species typical of America, one of the iconic dinosaurs that appear in the movies, and this is the first time it's been found in Europe," said Fernando Escaso, from Madrid University, who led a team of Spanish and Portuguese scientists.

The specimen found at Casal Novo, near Batalha, north of Lisbon, in a region rich in dinosaur fossils, belong to the species Stegosaurus ungulatus, and "constitute the first incontrovertible evidence that a member of the genus stegosaurus lived outside North America," Mr Escaso told yesterday's El Pais newspaper. Writing in the online edition of the scientific journal Naturwissenschaften, geophysicists confirmed "a very high probability that an episodic corridor once existed between the Newfoundland and Iberian land masses.

"The discovery of the Portuguese stegosaurus, together with geotechtonic evidence, favour a scenario that includes contacts among fauna between the land masses of the north Atlantic," they say. Scientists have in the past found related - but never identical - species on both sides of the Atlantic.

The stegosaurus, a herbivore, roamed the earth between 148 million and 153 million years ago during the Upper Jurassic period. The dinosaurs averaged nine metres long and four metres tall, but the fossilised partial skeleton recovered from Casal Novo, found during excavations to build a motorway, was just five metres long.

The remains, some of which have still to be excavated, include part of the spinal column, dorsal plates, bones, including the thigh bone, and a tooth. Dr Escaso said: "We don't have much to go on, but what we have is fundamental to identify the species."

For more information visit The Independent

IFA Hotels & Resorts (IFA HR), leaders in mixed use hotel and tourism resort projects across the globe, have acquired two residential buildings in Pine Cliffs Residence, the prime tourist resort of the Algarve, Portugal for US$ 35 million. The resort sits on 2 kms of beach front and on an area of 700,000 squared meters.

Mr. Talal Jassim Al-Bahar, Chairman and Managing Director of IFA HR, said “We are pleased with the new acquisition and believe strongly in the Portuguese market. Pine Cliffs Residence is a new and unique concept for the European market and was developed by United Investments Portugal which is part of the IFA Consortium.”

This is the first investment for IFA HR in residential projects in Portugal. IFA HR will be responsible for all re-sales through their international network of offices. This is part of the company’s strategy of investing in various residential and mixed use developments to further expand product range and global presence. In Dubai, IFA HR purchased The Palm Residence, two shoreline residential buildings on The Palm Jumeirah, where they sold the residential units to clients.

Located in one of the most exclusive areas in Europe, Pine Cliffs Residence will be managed by the Sheraton Algarve and will consist of 2 and 3 bed roomed units, furnished to the highest quality. The resort is surrounded by a pine forest, overlooks the ocean and is home to a superb golf course. Pine Cliffs Residence was launched as an innovative freehold property investment that combines a trouble free holiday home, with a minimum 5% guaranteed return on investment per year for the next three years, with strong capital growth potential.

Pine Cliffs Resort is one of the most awarded resorts in Europe. It has been voted ‘Best Resort in Europe’ by the World Travel Awards for 2001and 2002, while in 2004, 2005 and 2006 was awarded ‘Best Resort in Portugal’ by the same association. The resort was also voted as the ‘Best location in the world to invest in a property in the sun’, by Uk’s channel 4 TV programme, A Place in the Sun. In addition Pine Cliffs is the only resort in the Algarve to receive a ‘Prize of Excellency’ by the Sovereign/First Choice. The International Association of Golf Tour Operators voted the Algarve as ‘Best Golfing Destination in the World’.

The facilities will also include access to Casa Pine Cliffs which will include a reception, a restaurant, terrace-restaurant, gymnasium, health club, mini-market and swimming pools. The owners will also benefit from other facilities provided within the Sheraton Algarve & Pine Cliffs Resort such as a golf course, golf academy, clubhouse, tennis academy, eleven restaurants, five swimming pools (indoor and outdoor), beauty parlour, health club, a children’s play area, several shops, business centre and a unique beach distinguished with the golden flag, which can be accessed through a panoramic elevator or by stairs.

Al-Bahar concluded: “This investment is particularly special to the consortium as UIP started this investment in Portugal in the 80s. We applied the business model of mixed use residential resorts in other investments in Dubai and South Africa; we are delighted and proud to be actively investing into this premium European destination. We are actively seeking new projects to expand our international portfolio and management capabilities.”