Portfolio expansion. “Our convention bureau has repositioned itself and now represents not just Porto but the entire north of the country,” explains Sandra Lorenz. The Director for International Promotion at the Porto Convention Bureau receives her guests at the Palácio do Freixo, an opulent Baroque palace by the Douro. It is now an elegant Pestana conference hotel for up to 350 guests. Porto is a Unesco world heritage site with numerous historic venues. Five events can be held concurrently at the Alfandega Congress Centre, a former customs house opposite the Palácio da Bolsa, which offers the Courtyard of the Nations and the magnificent Arab Room.

“We have good international contacts and urgently need a large convention centre. The conversion of the historic Crystal Palace, which is located in a city-centre park, is under consideration,” says Sandra Lorenz. Rem Kolhaas’s meteorite-like Casa da Musica, built for Porto’s year as European Capital of Culture in 2001, really catches the eye. The unconventional ambience and excellent acoustics are an inspiration. The new cruise ship terminal, another striking white building, which opened in 2015 at the mouth of the Douro, has a clearer focus on planners’ requirements.

Clad in hexagonal white tiles, the building also houses a maritime research centre and an event area with a terrace. L’Oreal and Mercedes have staged events here, and the Conference of the Mediterranean came in 2017. Ferrari intends to film an advertisement for its new model here. There are plans to extend Porto’s much-loved tram network to the cruise ship terminal.

The most popular incentive in Porto is also a very traditional one: a visit to one of the great port houses of Sandeman or Ferreira is a must for anyone. The port cellars are reached by taking the ferry to the district of Gaia on the other side of the Douro. The Yeatman Hotel, high above the river, is a Leading Hotel of the World, where Michelin star Chef Ricardo Costa cooks for celebrities and banquet guests. Corporates favour the Holiday Inn Porto Gaia, which offers 286 rooms and a conference floor with a view of the city.

In Braga, the capital of the Minho region, 55 km north of Porto, Bosch is the most important employer, with a workforce of 3,000. But it is not just corporate clients that organise meetings; the university does, as well, in particular the medicine and nano- and biotechnology faculties. That was one reason why this 2,000-year-old city opened the Altice Forum Braga with its 5,000 sqm hall in May 2018.
“Since 2014 we have had an economic development plan for our region, which has first-class infrastructure and hosts sports events and pop concerts as well as conventions,” says Ricardo Rio, Braga’s Mayor. “We are Portugal’s second-largest event venue and proud that sustainability was a key consideration in the building’s construction. You can register for events online. 800 delegates attended a nanotechnology conference here in October 2018. Up to three events can be held concurrently thanks to the building’s different entrance areas,” asserts José Carlos Coutinho, the General Manager of the Altice Forum Braga. Coutinho hopes to be hosting the Iberian Chapter of the ICCA in the foreseeable future.

Braga is the spiritual heart of Portugal and features many attractive sacred buildings. The Vila Galé Collection Braga conference hotel opened in a former monastery with a cloister in 2018. This stylish hotel in the heart of the city has a large garden. Porto’s international airport, Sá Carneiro, is less than an hour away.