Algarve won the best gastronomic destination of Europe

The Algarve won the prize "Best European Region in Tourism and Gastronomy 2018", awarded by the European Council of Food and Wine Confraternities (CEUCO) in the framework of the 13th edition of the AURUM Awards. The restaurant Infante Panorâmico, in Praia Verde (Castro Marim), was also one of the winners, when being elected "Best European Restaurant 2018".

"The Algarve's gastronomic flavors and know-how have conquered millions of people all over the world and are one of the Algarve's most important tourist attractions and an important cultural expression of the region," says the Tourism Region of Algarve (RTA).

"The distinction of Best European Region in Tourism and Gastronomy 2018 arises when the Algarve is strengthening its offer of culinary and oenological tourism," said João Fernandes, president of the RTA, at the awards ceremony that took place this weekend in Athens, Greece.

"This award brings us recognition and perseverance to continue to enhance, preserve and value our gastronomic and oenological heritage, making the region known through dishes and experiences at the table, and even better known for being attributed by those who share the passion for gastronomy and wines, as a cultural element and a symbol of identity," he added.

The promotion of Algarve gastronomy, its products and its ancestral recipes has been developed through projects such as "Algarve Cooking Vacations" which has also won a prize.

Recently, the RTA also promoted a study that allowed to define the profile of the tourists, to identify the market tendencies and to define the best strategies for the elaboration of new offers for the region.

Created in 2005, CEUCO aims to bring together the largest number of confraternities and gastronomic and oenological associations in the European Union, with a common denominator: to defend the products and recipes that characterize the unique gastronomic identity of each region. After Athens (Greece) and Cordoba (Spain), the next CEUCO congress will be held in Albufeira in 2019, after the Algarve candidature was approved by the institution.