Tourist Territorial Administration in

Portugal:Case Study: Vilamoura XXI

19th IFTTA Coference(International Forum of Travel

and Tourism Advocates)Tavira,Portugal,13.10.07

Ms. Virgílio Miguel MachadoUniversidade do Algarve

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LOCATION

Virgílio Machado,2007

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Tourist Resort

VILAMOURA TOURIST RESORT5 Golf Courses

7000

Houses

120

Stores

1000 Mooring Places at the Marina

Horse Riding Centre

Tennis Centre

Golf Academy

Luxury Hotels

35.000 beds

350.000 Tourists a year

6000

Inhabitants

area of 1650 ha

Beaches 3 km long

75 Bars and Restaurants

Fonte (Silva,2004)Virgílio Machado,2007

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Virgílio Machado,2007

VILAMOURA-A BRIEF HISTORY

Beginning 20th Century- QUINTA DA QUARTEIRA- Family Santos Silva, Agriculture.

1929- Sold to Júdice Fialho family, Factories of Fish Preserves and Export.

1965- Sold to Lusotur, Financial Society of Tourism, Plc. – A tourist enterprise financed by American capital and Banco Português do Atlântico.

Vilamoura 1st Stage - 1965-1995- The role of Cupertino de Miranda (Marina, Casino, Luxury Hotels, Golf). A branded image of “quality tourism” in Portugal.

Vilamoura 2nd Stage-1995- 21st Century- Lusotur, Plc.- Investment for a 10 year period, superior to 50 million Euros.

Vilamoura – An example of how the ownership of the land and property rights are a key-concept to understand the distribution of the income from the tourist activity (Lewis,Williams,1998)

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Virgílio Machado,2007

VILAMOURA - A TOURIST TERRITORY

Tourist Planning and Regulation – Political activity; the plans for the regulation of the territory balance and line up public and private interests from the tourism activity, both in the short and long term; regulation plans require the local government’s approval in order to be implemented (Gunn,1988, Smith,1992).

Tourist Territory – Organization based on a formal consensus (recognised by a power structure in a given society) to stimulate and guarantee transactions between that organisation and tourism in a given geographical area.

Vilamoura 2nd Stage - Consensus reached by:

a) Conjoined Dispatch from the Planning and Territory Administration Ministry, the Commerce and Tourism Ministry, the Agriculture Ministry and the Environment and Natural Resources Ministry (4 Ministries) issued on September 27, 1995. It recognises the public interest of the tourist resort.

b) Protocol dated May 20, 1999 between local structures of the Government (Commission for the Coordination of the Region of The Algarve, Regional Department of the Environment – Algarve), national structures (Tourism Department), Loulé’s City Hall and Lusotur, S.A.;

c) Government’s resolution dated June 11, 1999, which was approved by Loulé’s City Hall and prepared by Lusotur,Plc., ratifying the Urbanization Plan of Vilamoura, 2nd Stage, (Séves,2003).

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Virgílio Machado,2007

VILAMOURA-AN “EFFICIENT” TOURIST TERRITORY (I).

Structure of the Tourist Territory

Power Connections

Contract Property Rights

Tourist Territory - Organization based on a win-win philosophy, rejecting the zero sum conception of power (Moisset,1999,Henderson,2002).

Property rights- set of institutional rights (public and private) between agents that can access, own, use and transfer resources (for example land, buildings, capitals, knowledge) in a context of relatively autonomous connections of power (Alexander,2002).

Tourist Territory

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Virgílio Machado,2007

VILAMOURA-AN “EFFICIENT” TOURIST TERRITORY (II).PROPERTY RIGHTS’ EFFICIENCY INDICATORS

Quality of Title- Ability, certainty, security in the creation and features of the definition of the right; existence of a power capable of guaranteeing the coercion and execution of that given right (for example the declaration of public interest given to a private tourist resort; predominance of the urbanization plan over all the changes related to the occupancy, use or transformation of the land).

Exclusivity - Certainty, assurance that a third party will not disturb the claim and exercise of a right. Guarantee given to the owner of the unit over the profits and correspondent costs of its possession, usage and transferability. (For example : licensing given by the City Hall of Loulé for construction works predicted in the Plan; promotion of the execution, financing and other investments anticipated by Lusotur,Plc.).

Duration – Temporal feature of the Law. The permanence, extension and requirements for its renewal, which will guarantee stability (for example 10 years for the execution of the plan of works and investments to be made by Lusotur,Plc.; legal temporal limits to the change of the town planning).

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VILAMOURA-AN “EFFICIENT” TOURIST TERRITORY (III).PROPERTY RIGHTS’ EFFICIENCY INDICATORS

Flexibility – Internal ability of the right management that consists in the regulation of its usage patterns, aiming for the transformation and introduction of improvements in the capacity of adaptation to external elements (for example: changes in the content of Vilamoura’s town planning; ability to substitute a contract to invest for a monetary compensation by the private party).

Transferability – Commerciality of the right, simplicity or low cost in the transfer in behalf of another party (for example : share transfer of a public limited company (Lusotur, Plc.); delegation of public tasks in a tourist grantee).

Divisibility – Change or usage of a good or resource, without adulteration of its nature, through its spatial or temporal division, maintaining the possibility of creating conjoined ownership over the rights of that good (for example: timesharing; delimitation of competence, intervention costs of the several public organisms over the same investment).

Virgílio Machado,2007

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Virgílio Machado,2007

Tourist Territory

Agent B

Agent A

DivisibilityFlexibility

ExclusivityDuration

Quality of Title

Transferability

POWER CONNECTIONS IN TOURIST TERRITORIES

Government

Planning

Government

Tourism

Government

Agriculture

Government

Environment

Loulé City Hall

Lusotur, Plc.

Quality of Title9 2 3 5 16 5

Exclusivity13 6 4 28 49

Duration1 1 1 2 2

Flexibility2 1 1 2 1

Transferability1 1

Divisibility4 1 17 66

Total30 10 3 12 66 123

EFFICIENCY INDICATORS PROPERTY RIGHTS/CONTRACTS

CASE STUDY: VILAMOURA

TOURIST TERRITORIAL ADMINISTRATION IN PORTUGAL: CASE STUDY - VILAMOURA CONCLUSIONS (I)

a) A TOURIST TERRITORY IS BASED ON CONTRACTS AND CONSENSUS, WHICH ARE THE MAIN FORMS OF CONNECTION BETWEEN ECONOMICAL AGENTS. IT AIMS FOR A LOCAL PROJECT, WHICH FOCUSES ON THE ATTAINMENT OF PROPERTY RIGHTS BETWEEN THE AGENTS INVOLVED ;

b) CONTRACTS AND PROPERTY RIGHTS ARE PERMEABLE TO CONNECTIONS OF POWER. THEREFORE THE SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION SHOULD FOCUS ON POLITICS, THAT IS, ON WHO GETS WHAT, WHERE, HOW AND WHY;

C) THE TOURIST TERRITORY MUST BE FACED AS AN ORGANISATION THAT BRINGS ABOUT AND PRODUCES EFFICIENCY IN THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE ECONOMIC AGENTS, NAMELY THROUGH THE PURSUIT OF CONVERGENCE AND CONNECTIONS OF POWER, WHICH WILL MAXIMISE THE NETT INCOME OF THE TRANSACTIONS MADE;

TOURIST TERRITORIAL ADMINISTRATION IN PORTUGAL: CASE STUDY - VILAMOURA

CONCLUSIONS (II)

D)THE POSITIVE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE AGENTS IN TOURIST TERRITORIES ARE POSSIBLE IN A WIN-WIN PHILOSOPHY BECAUSE THERE ARE GUARANTEES OF CREDIT OR TRANSACTION WITH A THIRD PARTY OVER THE VALUE OF THE RIGHTS (OBTAINED BY THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE USE OF THE LAND INTENDED FOR TOURIST, RESIDENCIAL OR COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY);

E) LUSOTUR,plc. AND THE CITY HALL OF LOULÉ ARE THE AGENTS THAT OBTAIN MORE PROPERTY RIGHTS IN EXCHANGE FOR THE CONNECTIONS OF POWER; THE GOVERNMENTAL DEPARTMENTS OF AGRICULTURE AND TOURISM ARE THE WEAKEST LINKS; A POSSIBLE EXPLANATION IS THE ABSENCE OF INTERVENTION FROM THE LOCAL STRUCTURES OF POWER OF THE TOURISM DEPARTMENT;

F) THE HIGH VALUES OF EXCLUSIVITY AND DIVISIBILITY IN THE EFFICIENCY OF PROPERTY RIGHTS IN VILAMOURA CAN BE EXPLAINED BY THE CREATION OF “IPPs”, i.e., DETAILED LICENSE URBANIZATION PLANS, WHICH WILL DIVIDE THE USAGE OF THE LAND INTO RESIDENCIAL, COMMERCIAL OR TOURIST PURPOSES. THIS ALLOWS CONVERGENCE BETWEEN THE CITY HALL OF LOULÉ, THE GOVERNMENTAL PLANNING DEPARTMENT AND LUSOTUR,PLC.; THEREFORE THE PUBLIC SECTOR GETS INCOME (SUCH AS PATRIMONY AND TAXES) FROM THE RECEPTION OF INFRASTRUCTURES, BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT.

Alexander, E. R. (2002), “Planning Rights: Toward Normative Criteria for Evaluating Plans”, vol.7,nº 3, pp-191-212, International Planning Studies

Gunn, C.A. (1988), Tourism planning, 2ª ed., Nova Iorque, Taylor and Francis.

Henderson, J. (2002), “Globalization of the ground: Global production networks, competition, regulation and economic development”, Centre of Regulation and Competition, acessível em <http: \\www.competition-regulation.org.uk/ publications/working.papers /wp38.pdf> 20-09-2006.

Moisset, M.P. (1999), “O papel das parcerias na elaboração de projectos turísticos. A experiência francesa”, Lisboa, Ciclo de Debates de 21 de Maio de 99, Livro das Actas do Instituto de Financiamento e Apoio ao Turismo - Património e Turismo, pp.109-117.

Séves, A.L. (2003), “A admissibilidade de propostas de planos de pormenor apresentadas por particulares”, nº 20, pp.143-157, Revista Jurídica do Urbanismo e Ambiente.

Silva,A.H. (2004), Seminário Algarve-Inovação e Diversificação de Mercados Emissores,Case Study: Lusotur,S.A”, Seminário na Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento da Região do Algarve em 20 de Maio de 2004, acessível em google: vilamoura XXI>Microsoft Power Point-Seminário.10.05.04 > 20.09.2007.

Smith,R.A.(1992), “ Beach Resort Evolution:Implications for Planning”, vol.19, pp. 304-322, Annals of Tourism Research.

Lewis,J. Williams, A.M. (1998), “Portugal: market segmentation and economic development”, Tourism Economic Development, 3ª edição, Chichester, Wiley, pp.125-150 (obra colectiva).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PRESENTATION

VIRGÍLIO MIGUEL RODRIGUES MACHADO

Master of Business Administration and Tourist Development

Lawyer/ConsultantUrbanism/Tourism

Assistant Professor atESGHT/Universidade do Algarve

Contacts: Avª 25 de Abril, Lote 12.r/c/dtº8500-511 PORTIMÃOe-mail: virmac@sapo.ptPhone/fax: 282 423209Mobile:919195581