Darkish Sky Alqueva permits friends to stare deep into the cosmos and has been recognised as a worldwide hospitality chief by the World Journey Awards.
Right here Breaking Journey Information chats with Apolónia Rodrigues, president of the Darkish Sky Affiliation, to search out out extra in regards to the mission
Breaking Journey Information: Congratulations in your recognition by the World Travel Awards because the World’s Leading Tourism Development Project. How does it really feel to have gained?
Apolónia Rodrigues: It’s a nice honour to obtain such a recognition, it makes us really feel that we’re transferring in the best course – however with that comes an awesome sense of accountability.
After I began to develop Darkish Sky Alqueva it was essential to beat many obstacles – some had been because of the lack of understanding in regards to the significance of the evening sky, whereas others meant it was not recognised as a tourism product.
However not solely that, we additionally needed to overcome the lack of understanding about what mild air pollution is and the detrimental impacts it has on the environment.
So, to obtain this recognition from the World Journey Awards – which showcases our vacation spot and mission to implement sustainable improvement utilizing astrotourism because the catalyst to guard the evening sky – is just magical.
BTN: Are you able to inform our readers just a little in regards to the Darkish Sky Mission and what it brings to world tourism?
AR: Darkish Sky is an idea and a model.
As an idea, it implements a mannequin of built-in sustainable improvement in our vacation spot, which implies the institution of a connection between the territory and the ambiance above it, turning the sky and earth into one.
With it is a mission to guard the evening sky.
Darkish Sky as model is meant to deliver added worth to the territories the place this may be carried out and the Darkish Sky Alqueva is the primary vacation spot in our community.
Darkish Sky Alqueva is a stargazing vacation spot with a transparent mission and with a short-, medium- and long-term technique.
Darkish Sky Alqueva is a area which covers an intensive space of just about ten thousand sq. kilometres across the Alqueva lake, together with Portuguese and Spanish territory.
Created in 2007 and owing to the standard of its evening sky, this space was licensed as a Starlight Tourism Vacation spot in 2011, the primary place on this planet to acquire this certification.
The Darkish Sky route provides a variety of night-time actions for astronomical remark, with the bare eye or utilizing telescopes.
Along with these actions, complementary experiences will be loved each at evening and by day.
Astrotourism could be a nice journey and that’s being demonstrated in Darkish Sky Alqueva via our initiatives and enthusiastic actions.
Beneath a protected evening sky many actions will be organised like stargazing classes, blind wine tastings, evening canoeing, yoga classes, walks, hen watching, wildlife watching, Darkish Sky Events, astrophotography workshops and extra.
BTN: How helpful are the World Journey Awards in relation to selling the mission to a worldwide hospitality market?
AR: The World Journey Awards brings status and top-level recognition – and that helps us to go additional by way of visibility and capability to succeed in worldwide markets.
However this recognition additionally helps to attain our objectives as Darkish Sky idea, by way of defending the evening sky and the implementation of built-in sustainable improvement in our locations.
BTN: This has been a tricky yr for hospitality companies of every kind – what toll has Covid-19 taken in your operations? Can we anticipate a change in course as we enter 2021?
AR: Sure, certainly tourism is being hit in a tough approach however with resilience and imaginative and prescient some locations will have the ability to rise and reinforce their strengths.
The locations which are much less crowded and are in reference to nature, like ours, will are usually the primary to get well – so governments, in addition to the nationwide and regional tourism organisations, should provide particular consideration and extra help to those.
However, above all, we should remember the significance of sustaining our identification and the concentrate on sustainable improvement.
Since 2018, we had been seeing a rise within the seek for tourism merchandise that might provide extra significant experiences – not solely by way of information but in addition associated with the interior self.
It’s why now we have seen an enormous enhance within the demand for our vacation spot.
This summer time, throughout the pandemic, we had an enormous enhance in our stargazing classes that helped us to get well the time we had been closed throughout the first state of emergency.
But additionally in different actions like evening canoeing and within the workshops of astrophotography with Miguel Claro.
These actions are nature primarily based and finished in small teams or individually.
Such enhance, was additionally observed within the actions of our community of companions from lodging to gastronomy.
However the winter and early spring will likely be our take a look at
Extra Data
Darkish Sky Alqueva is the primary Starlight Tourism Vacation spot on this planet and the primary cross border.
It covers an space of round ten thousand sq. kilometres round Lake Alqueva, together with Portuguese and Spanish council areas.
Along with the licensed high quality of the sky, Darkish Sky Alqueva additionally provides a variety of daytime and night-time actions, and Darkish Sky Alqueva works onerous to guard this pure and humankind heritage – our evening sky filled with stars.
Discover out extra on the official website.
Photographs: Miguel Claro and Darkish Sky Alqueva
