Madeira News Blog

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Vic … Columbus cruise ship in Funchal

Don’t forget that news / articles will be posted at various times during the day – Check back regularly and keep yourself up to date.

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions or comments.

(more…)

(15th July). ‘Madeira Is The Preference – European tourists choose voyages in the Mediterranean and in the Atlantic islands’. Madeira is one of the preferences for Europeans that choose to take a cruise for their holidays. A study carried out by the company MedCruise (an association of 75 cruise ship ports) discovered that 60% prefer to visit the Mediterranean and Atlantic islands, with 16% opting for Northern Europe, and the rest of the world being favoured by the other 24%. Cruising is still a growth area, crisis or not, with the number of European cruise passengers rising from 2.6 million in 2001 to 4.4 million in 2008. The worldwide situation rose 10.5% between 2007 and 2008 alone. Whilst the United Kingdom provided 33% of European passengers so far this year, Portugal provided just 1%.

‘Madeira Is The Fourth Best European Tourism Island – The nomination of Madeira is from the American Magazine Travel & Leisure’. 4th place in the category ‘Top 5 Islands In Europe’ came in the 14th ‘World’s Best Awards 09′, based on studies of readers preferences, and announced on 10th July. The top 3 were Aeolian (Italy), Dalmation (Croatia), and Santorini (Greece). Our island recently achieved 6th place in another American magazine in the same category.

‘Financial System Has Signs Of Recovery – Teixeira dos Santos said that it is not possible to predict when the improvements will be reflected in the economy’. The treasurer and minister for the economy says that the international finance system is showing clear signs of "normalization". "The signals at an international level suggest that the crisis is hitting the bottom of the slump in economic activity. No one can guess what will happen in the future," he said in Madrid.

‘Electro Móveis San Roque leader in low priced washing machines’. The shop was chosen by the magazine ‘Protest’ as the cheapest local outlet for quality washing machines on Madeira. The study was conducted by DECO, the consumer protection agency, who looked at the prices of 438 shops nationwide.

(if you think I was scratching around for news stories today, then you would be right).

(23rd June). ‘Tax Revenues Fall More Than 20% . In the first five months there was a worsening of the deficit’. Portugal collected 20.7% less in the first 5 months of this year in tax revenues, than in the same period in 2008, according to data from the Ministry of Finance, pointing to a provisional deficit of €4.3 billion.

Meanwhile prices in industrial production for Portugal fell 5.1%, comparing May this year with May last year. Part of the reason is the fall in energy prices.

(22nd June). ‘Here It comes The 20th Edition Of The 100 Biggest And Best Companies’. This is the annual ceremony to recognise companies that have performed well or achieved something special in production growth, productivity, investment, or even in the well-being of Madeira in general. It is organised by the Diário de Notícias and Previsão, with the involvement of other organisations and individuals. The Diário understandably gives it a lot of coverage over the coming weeks (if previous years are anything to go by), much of it on the front page as a means of publicity, but I will not give it nearly as much coverage, at least until those to be distinguished have been identified and announced.

(23rd June). ‘BinterCanarias Baptises ATR72 With The Name Madeira – The Spanish airline recognises the importance of the Madeira market’. The new plane will take on the route twice weekly between the two archipelagos starting on Thursday at 1pm, and again on Sundays connecting direct Gran Canaria, with the guarantee of connections to most of the other islands, and also two cities in Morocco. It was built by the European Consortium in France and Italy. This Summer connection has been operating since 2004.

(22nd June). ‘Queen Victoria Comes At The Year End – There will be 7 cruise ships bringing over 10,000 passengers to Madeira’. The night of São Silvestre this year will be able to count on 7 cruise ships, the highlight being the new British owned Queen Victoria. Another new ship to come is the ‘AIDAluna’. Both will arrive on the 30th December and stay over to see in the new year. Others already confirmed are the ‘Oriana’, the ‘Boudicca’, the ‘Princess Danae’, the ‘Saga Ruby’, and the ‘Amadea’. For four of them it will be the first time here to see in the new year. I was surprised to learn that they will only have a total of 10,000 passengers, but the Diário gives the passenger capacity of each ship, and sure enough it is correct. There will be around 3,500 crew on top of that though.