Vilamoura hosts over 600,000 visitors per year and is home to approximately 6,000 permanent residents on 1,650 hectares of prime coastal property in Southern Portugal's Algarve region. It is one of the largest resorts in southwestern Europe. The Algarve tourism industry developed in the 1960s and currently accounts for over 40 percent of tourist demand in Portugal. In the early 1990s, the Portuguese government introduced a regional building freeze and initiated public planning and environmental controls to combat the impacts of uncontrolled tourism development during the 1970s and 1980s.

The Vilamoura Resort (www.vilamoura.net) is committed to sustainable tourism. For the first 30 years of its existence, the Vilamoura Resort, started in 1966 by Lusotur, S.A., evolved along the typical path of a master planned community. But poor execution and inattention to environmental concerns led to overdevelopment. In 1996, Lusotur's new owners, the Andre Jordan group, introduced a new management strategy to make Vilamoura more distinctive and better integrated into its environment. Long before environment and sustainable development became buzzwords, Andre Jordan was practicing high-quality tourism development and adopting sound environmental principles. Sustainable practices at Vilamoura include:

• Engaging top management, including board members, in environmental leadership.
• Implementing Vilamoura XXI, an overarching master planning framework founded on sustainability principles.
• Undertaking research-based application of and compliance with environmental law.
• Integrating environmental planning into building construction, creating new habitats, and enhancing existing ecosystems.
• Establishing environmental management systems to plan, manage, and control different areas of the business, including the five golf courses, the marina, and beaches (which receive more than 15,000 people on August weekend days).
• Maintaining IS0 14001 certification for the golf courses and marina.
• Cultivating partnerships with key stakeholders.
• Getting involved with the community through various educational, sport and leisure activities.

Overall responsibility for Vilamoura's environmental program is vested in its board. The company's environmental team includes a permanent environmental staff team that currently includes four environmental engineers, one biologist, one landscape architect, and consultants for environmental management systems, monitoring, control and safety. Environmental responsibilities are incorporated in key job descriptions and senior managers in every business area constantly monitor and assure environmental progress. Since initiating an environmental management system in 1997, Lusotur regularly assesses and monitors Vilamoura's environmental impacts, and has created procedures to improve overall environmental performance in its golf, marina, and beach operations.

Vilamoura harmonizes holiday, residential, sport, leisure, and recreational goals while respecting the capacities of environment and nature. Its Vilamoura XXI plan provides for strict control of construction and design of the community and amenities, reduced construction densities (50 percent less than in previous phases), new occupation indexes (with 3-4 story maximum building allowances), green space preserves accounting for more than 90 percent of the land area, traffic control mechanisms such as roundabouts, cycle ways, pathways, park and ride, pedestrian zones, and speed controls, and environmental guidelines and incentives for construction companies, property owners, small businesses, and hotels.

MEETING ENVIRONMENTAL GOALS THROUGH COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

Community activities in which Lusotur participates include educational programs such as a 600-student international school (English and Portuguese program), a soccer school and rugby team, a sailing school, and a free golf school for children. Environmental education initiatives involve children in tree planting, and beach management with educational programs on beach and sand dunes protection. Leisure activities include guided tours in the Vilamoura Environmental Park, cycle ways, and trails.

The Centre for Environmental and Nature Studies (CENA), Vilamoura Environmental Park's welcoming center, provides visitors with information on nature conservation and flora and fauna. The center includes a library and an exhibition room. With financial assistance from Lusotur, CENA annually endows four research internships for university graduates, as well as courses, exhibitions, and debates.

The full report is available at www.conference-board.org. This report was presented by Mr. Godeke this week at the World Travel & Tourism Council's (WTTC) Third Global Travel & Tourism Summit in Vilamoura, Portugal.

ABOUT BEST

Business Enterprises for Sustainable Travel (BEST) www.sustainabletravel.org is an initiative of The Conference Board, in association with the World Travel and Tourism Council. Support is provided by several foundations, including Ford, Charles Stewart Mott, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, as well as by corporations such as American Express and Marriott International. BEST is the premier source of knowledge on travel and tourism practices that benefit communities worldwide.