Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2008 21:15:46 +0100
From: Susie Chance

Hi David

Just to say we had another lovely family holiday in apartment
Christina this year. We love the area and those beautiful views!

Just one small tip for anyone else who may be arriving at the
airport for the first time... Again there seemed to be long
queues for car hire. We minimised our wait by arranging for one
of us to go through customs as soon as we got off the plane, in
order to get in the queue early. My husband went first, and I
followed with the children once we had collected our luggage.
There was still a wait, but not quite so long...

Best wishes
Susie and Andrew

Posted at 9:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The number eight is said to be the luckiest number, or at least very lucky, according to the Chinese - which is why they loved the idea of the Olympics opening today on the 08/08/2008. In the case of property investors in the "Oeste" Region here in the heart of the Silver Coast, the number 8 turned out to be a very fortunate number indeed.

30 minutes on the A8 from Lisbon through the mountains to the "Oeste"

Most are agreed that without the opening of the A8, with the section opening up the route to Obidos, the Lagoon and the beaches around Caldas da Rainha completed in 1998 the "Oeste" would still be relatively undiscovered. In the ten years since 1998 at least 16 major tourism projects are happening at least in part because of the A8.

If you read the comments of those connected with tourism in the local media, including just this week the engineer responsible for the enterprise Bom Sucesso, the A8 was critical to both the planning and the success of such investments. This a view confirmed by António Carneiro president of Região de Turismo do Oeste who has been a prime mover in many of these projects in recent years.

As you can see on the map, the major artery the A1 by-passed the "Oeste" region, whereas the A8 is now the super-highway which crosses the Oeste from South to North, opening up the region to people coming from either the Lisbon or Porto directions.

Image taken from Jan 2006 PDF file by António Carneiro president of Região de Turismo do Oeste. Click to see larger file.

Critically of course this placed much of the region only 30 minutes from Lisbon airport, but equally the recent opening of the Northern stretches of the A8 / IC1 now allows people to drive down quickly from car ferries at Bilbao or Santander, fly/drive using low cost airlines into "Oporto", or drive down from Northern Europe with ease.

The opening of the A15 in 2001 connecting us to Santarem and all points east made getting to and from the Madrid and central Spain much faster which brought the Oeste to the attention of many more international investors. I recently met just one case in point, a German national who works in Madrid but has purchased his holiday home at Bom Sucesso beach.

The picture above is from an article announcing the conclusion of the IP6 on the front page of the Gazeta das Caldas, in June 2006. The IP6 linking the A8 through to Peniche was welcomed by many who had invested in property and has made access to the new resorts around the Obidos Lagoon even easier and has brought the golf resorts within easy driving time from Lisbon.

To paraphrase António Carneiro of the RTO in the Gazeta das Caldas this week - Thanks to the A8 "Everything is New in the Oeste".

Posted at 8:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Where is best to invest? The heart of the Silver Coast in the "Oeste" region or the Lisbon Golf Coast? To be in all three is best, so be sure to buy your property in the "Oeste", where four billion Euros is being invested in 17 new resorts which it is planned will be marketed as part of the newly lauched and expanded Lisbon Golf Coast.

The "Oeste Region" which forms the heart of the Silver Coast is undergoing so much radical change and investment that by 2015 the number of developed resorts and golfing complexes will jump from only one in 1997, to seventeen or more.

Image taken from Jan 2006 PDF file by António Carneiro president of Região de Turismo do Oeste. Click to see larger file.

The image above shows the information about 13 of the resorts as they were published in a PDF file by Região de Turismo do Oeste in January 2006. At that time there was a concentration of 5 resorts planned in and around the Obidos Lagoon. They can be see on the map as....

1 Praia D'El Rey,
6 Bom Sucesso Design Resort,
8 Pérola de Lagoa,
9 Falésia D'El Rey
10 Quintas de Óbidos

The concentration in the Obidos Lagoon area has increased to 7 resorts with the addition of Rainha Golf and Spa in Serra do Bouro on the the Foz do Arelho side of the Lagoa do Obidos, and with Royal Obidos already in the site clearance phase also at position 9.

The capital city Lisbon has eyes on the success and plans are already underway to integrate the Oeste Region into an expanded new "Lisbon Golf Coast" with intensive television and other media marketing campaigns already in the final planning stages. Most of the new economic activity is focused around the centre of the "Oeste" region in the districts surrounding the Obidos Lagoon.

"A few years after our first five-star, Praia D'El Rey Marriott Golf & Beach Resort, the opening of the Westin Hotel Campo Real, with a Sheraton sees the beginning of the consolidation of the 'Oeste' region as a promising resort destination of high quality." said Antonio Carneiro, president of the Tourist Region "Oeste", adding that the region "is on the right path to internationalization." By 2015 four billion euros will be invested in top quality new resorts in the region, which will "change the face of the region."

Praia D'el Rey golf has been up and running since June 1997 and since that time investment has been slowly gathering speed. The Portuguese Government has now granted special priority "PIN" status to several projects here which it has declared to be of vital national interest. Amongst them is of course the Bom Sucesso Design Resort.

Most of the new ventures include 18 hole golf courses, five-star hotels, with tennis, cycling paths, riding stables, retirement villages, spas and other leisure activities featuring prominently. Ten thousand jobs are estimated to be created in 17 resorts "at a minimum" with major new shopping complexes planned likely to add even more.

Currently five resorts are already in operation in the Oeste region: Praia D'El Rey, Golden Eagle, Campo Real, Vimeiro and Botado. Nearing completion and due to open in October 2008 is the Bom Sucesso Design Resort. (soft opening on 27th September 2008)

Pérola de Lagoa, Quintas de Obidos and Quinta de Abrigada are currently in development. Royal Obidos Golf & Spa has just started development with land clearance already underway and a sales office on site.

Having been in the land acquisition phase for some years Rainha Golf & Spa in Serra do Bouro on the Caldas da Rainha side of the Obidos Lagoon is projected to start within a year to eighteen months.

Falésia D'El Rey, Paimogo and Praia Azul are all projected to be about to start development "soon". In addition to new complexes, there is expansion underway of the projects at Golden Eagle, Campo Real, and Vimeiro.

The Oeste Region on the Silver Coast in Portugal is now already well known as one of the top three places in Europe to invest. Almost all investors know about the Channel 4 TV show "A PLACE IN THE SUN" where Portugal was described as offering a potential 360% return.

Read more about the Silver Coast Oeste Region and the Lisbon Golf Coast on the Silver Coast Property newsfeed at http://rainha.com/property/index.xml

Posted at 2:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)