Cascais & Estoril – With so many events there’s never a dull moment

 In Culture, Events, Features, News, Sports and Leisure, Tourism, Travel, Visitor Attractions and Theme Parks

Cascais Mayor Carlos Carreiras reflects on an international marketing strategy that has placed the resorts on a qualitative par with Cannes, San Tropez and Positano thanks to a year-round calendar of cultural and sporting events.

Text: Chris Graeme Images: CML & Chris Graeme

Cascais and Estoril – Just the very mention of these two emblematic seaside resorts on the Portugal Riviera near Lisbon conjure 1930s glamour; a party paradise for the well-heeled sophisticates of high society, a one-time refuge for exiled European royalty, and the past playground of the 18th century Portuguese aristocracy who were responsible for many of the lovely villas that  grace the avenues in and around these towns.

And while the thought of Ian Fleming’s James Bond coolly sipping a martini (shaken not stirred) at the art deco bar in the stylish Palácio Hotel Estoril – the inspiration for his book Casino Royale – where during the war years German and British spies would gather to ease drop on conversations shrouded as much by cigarette smoke as mystery, these resorts while preserving the sparkle of the past have moved on thanks to a 15-year strategy from Mayor Carlos Carreiras who completes the last of three terms in September this year.

A staggering range of events

At an events preview for 2025 organised by the council for the media on Thursday last week at the Estoril Casino, it was truly staggering just how many cultural, sporting, technology and scientific events, congresses, conferences, and summits are organised in this municipality.

In sports there are the Montepio Half Marathon Run, the Cascais Naval Club HM King Juan Carlos Trophy, the Iber Cup, the Millennium Estoril Open, Cascais Jumping Trophy, International Lusitano Horse Festival, AFIA World Cup, Lisbon Rally, EDP Lisbon Marathon, Swim Grand Prix, Porsche Sprint Challenge Ibérica, Cascais Caterham Championship, Porche Cup Brazil, Estoril Classics, World Superbikes, and Iron Man, and others.

In the field of the arts, music and entertainment there is the world-famous Casino Estoril that has hosted big international stars such as Diana Ross, Donna Summer, Lionel Ritchie, Roberta Flack, and Tony Bennet, to name a few.

There is the OCCO and Cascais Sinfónica, Cascais Experimental Theatre, Cascais Opera, OUT///FEST, Festival Coala, Ageas, while in terms of conferences there is the annual round of Estoril Conferences and other summits such as the Leadership Summit Portugal, all a rounded off at the end of the year with the annual Christmas Market and one of Portugal’s most spectacular New Year’s Eve fireworks displays.

In other words, there is never a dull moment since there is something going on in the municipality all-year-round, making it rare for the mayor and his team, as he says, “to actually have a weekend off!”

All these events have created thousands of jobs, both directly and indirectly, in the borough, have helped to fund social programmes, while attracting big international names who have in turn helped to sustain the value chain in the municipality.

In fact, the sum of these events alone represents some €100 million of local investment.

And the Municipality has a lot to offer. The local authority has striven hard to promote, invest and help organise this vast raft of cultural and sporting events that run throughout the year ensuring a diversity not just in the summer season months of May-October but also in the winter.

“We are in a gaming zone; the casino pays a special tax and part of this tax (€4 million) goes to the municipal council”, says the mayor explaining where the money partly comes from to help promote these events.

It is a small part, and had been a lot more in the past, and is used to promote initiatives such as this”, he says referring to the press preview event.

“We also have the tourist tax (€6 million) that also helps us to promote and invest in cultural and sports events in the municipality which are not paid for by the rate payers of Cascais,” confirms Mayor Carlos Carreiras.

The mayor points out that in Cascais the average accommodation prices in hotels have risen at a much higher rate in percentage terms – and RevPAR (Revenue per Available Room) is currently the highest in the country – than the actual tourist tax, providing a high margin for a destination that is relatively cheaper than comparable competing quality destinations around Europe such as Cannes and Saint Tropez in France or the Almafi Coast in Italy.

However, the mayor is at pains to stress that Cascais has its own strategy and unique offering, and that as a municipality is not trying to imitate or compete with high-class resorts in other destinations.

The mayor also emphasises that it is difficult to estimate the total amount of revenues that come into the municipality from external investment, cultural and sporting events, and tourism and that any figure must be “purely speculative.”

The fruits of total investment represented 2.3% of Portugal’s GDP in 2013 according to the country’s National Statistics Institute, but that figure has certainly risen sharply since.

Today, Cascais Council has a total budget of around €426 million with events in the 2025 agenda alone expected to bring in a €100 million that will have an impact on the local economy and be completely financially sustainable.

“What we feel is that those who invest or come here to spend their holidays, relocate, or start a business are very satisfied with what we’ve done both in terms of supply and meeting demand and this is very good to know when you look at the returns we get on our investment as a council,” he says.

Carlos Carreiras points out that all these strategies to host major events and initiatives throughout the year have been a “vital component that has helped the municipality to be dynamic and place it firmly on the European map” of chic tourist destinations because it is “recognised in various fields as a borough of excellence.”

The mayor is careful not to mention any specific events that he is most proud of, limiting himself to saying that this is down to “personal tastes.” “I wouldn’t want to run the risk of offending any one of the promoters and organizers of these events.”

But he does mention Iron Man – a triathlon swimming, running and cycling event which this year runs on October 13, and involves 4,550 sports persons, 80% of who are from overseas, attracts 25,000 spectators, 12,000 accompanying partners and friends, and has an estimated €30 million direct financial impact – as a “spectacular” event.

But he stresses that this cultural and sporting agenda has been part of the council’s Territorial Marketing strategy which is now embodied by all these events.

“There are more investors from outside, particularly from overseas, there are more overseas residents who have relocated to Cascais, there is a greater interest in several communities, particularly the Brazilian community and others from the US and Europe who were not born in the municipality but consider themselves as “Cascalenses” or Cascaisers.

“Above all, it has been a great honour to have had this privilege to be here as Mayor of Cascais throughout this transformation,” Carlos Careiras says reflecting back on his last three terms in office.

But beyond the events, Mayor Carlos Carreiras concludes by saying: “What gave me the most pleasure was strolling around the streets and being greeted by the local people who thank me for all the hard work we have done for the municipality over the years and that in itself makes me feel proud to know that it has all been worthwhile.”