It is no secret at all that Porto has been growing in popularity as a tourism and events destination and why not? There is so much that Porto has to offer in terms of the historic city, the gastronomy, reasonable prices, great hospitality and of course the fantastic weather. But outside of the heat of the Summer or the warmth of Spring and Autumn, would it be worthwhile to hold your event in Porto from November to February? As an events company, of course we would say yes (!) – after all we would like to keep ourselves busy all year round and even though it is refreshing to have a relatively quite period in the Winter when we can gather strength for the rest of they year, both the city of Porto and our business organising events would love to even out the flow of clients a little. So here we will make the case for having a Winter event in Porto!
Most of our clients are from northern Europe, north America or Asia and one of the main reasons they are attracted to Portugal to hold an event is to feel the sun on their faces. Well our Winters are actually very mild and enjoyable! In very rough numbers, in Winter Porto averages around 4 hours a day of sunshine and it only rains on 10 days a month. So actually we enjoy lots of really pleasant days with blue skies during the Winter!
Perhaps the real point though is that Porto is so much more than a sunny destination for an event – it has so much to offer as an event destination even when you take the warm weather away. 10 years ago the events infrastructure was pretty poor, but now there are some fabulous 4 and 5 star hotels with attractive meetings and conference rooms as well as some unique events specific locations that can provide a fabulous venue for all manner of events.
There are direct flights from over 100 destinations into Porto airport (just 15 minutes from the city centre), there is a unique and wonderful gastronomy to enjoy (as well as the local wine and Port), the local people are extremely welcoming and warm (even when the sun isn’t shining!), the city is generally walkable and extremely quaint and attractive, prices are on the whole are very competitive compared with many destination around Europe and there is wonderful scenery to enjoy (both inland up the Douro Valley and the dramatic Atlantic coast).
The great thing about coming our of high season is that Porto will be less busy and of course you can get some great deals on accommodation (and be more easily to find available rooms in the most popular hotels). So please don’t just think of Porto as a March to October destination just becase Portugal is associated with warm weather tourism – perhaps your Winter event would work perfectly in Porto after all!
