Penina has just hosted the 2004 Algarve Open. 

I was wondering if you could tell me: 1) How profitable is the golf
course and hotel complex?
2) Where the complex gets its water from.
3) How much water it needs annually.
4) When are its peak times for visitors?
5) Any other statistics - i.e. tables and graphs concerning tourism,
finances of area.

Thanks

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Request for Question Clarification by nenna-ga on 08 Apr 2004 09:58 PDT

Hey there greedyman,

I have all the info for you except profits. I've been emailing back
and forth for days now to about 6 placed that deal with the city,
resort, golf course, etc, and all they will say is "It's profitable,
it will make the hotel alive during winter periods."

So, would all the other infomation be ok for an answer? They do not
want to seem to release any figures to me. I do have a place though
that shows stats for the area (Algarve) from website searches for the
resort, golf course, rental cars, etc, concerning tourisim so it may
give you an idea of interest to that kind of tourisim and people. I
also have some graphs in portugese as well for you, if you can
translate.

Nenna-GA

---

Clarification of Question by greedyman-ga on 08 Apr 2004 11:18 PDT

Hi,

Anything you can give me I'd really appreciate it. I've been trying to
get in touch with them as well but they have no intention of
responding.

Thanks for the help

---

Request for Question Clarification by nenna-ga on 08 Apr 2004 12:13 PDT

Ok, well, I've gotten a good bit of info so far, and am waiting for
some more emails back. I've gotten pretty good turn around time on the
few I have sent. Give me another few business days and I should have a
pretty good package for you. Thank you for your patience as I try to
get the most complete answer I can.

Nenna-GA

---

Request for Question Clarification by nenna-ga on 13 Apr 2004 09:24 PDT

Hey again Greedyman, 

I'm still waiting on some responses, I sent a few "follow ups" today.
Thanks for your patience while I try to get some more definitive
answers for you.

Nenna-GA

---

Clarification of Question by greedyman-ga on 14 Apr 2004 03:30 PDT

Hi,

Could you send me anything that you have already obtained?

Sorry but I'm running out of time!

Thanks.

---

Request for Question Clarification by nenna-ga on 14 Apr 2004 08:12 PDT

So, you would like me to post everythig I have as an answer, that
would be acceptable to you, and then when ( If ) I get more in, post
it as clarification?  I just want to make sure we're on the same page,
as this varies from the normal format a little.

Let me know, nenna-GA

---

Clarification of Question by greedyman-ga on 14 Apr 2004 15:09 PDT

Hi,

That would be great 

Thanks very much for the help

---

Clarification of Question by greedyman-ga on 15 Apr 2004 06:52 PDT

I don't mean to pester but I really need the information now. Please
send me whatever you have.

Thanks

Greedyman,

Hiya! Ok, I have a lot of info for you, and hopefully some more
forthcoming. Anyway, this is what I have learned so far...

As far as profit is concerned, Penina would rather not release that
information for a specific resort. However, I was told by the parent
company of that resort that they do release financial information
yearly for their company as a whole. The parent company for the Penina
resort is
Le Meridian World Headquarters
166 High Holborn
London WC1V 6TT
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7301 2000
Facsimile: +44 (0)20 7301 2011
http://www.lemeridien.com/contact.shtml

Also, specifically, for the Golf tournament that just occurred that
you mentioned, this is the contact so that maybe, when they do release
financial standings for the year, she could pull the figures for you
as they get them back from the parent company
For any further press information, please contact:

Julia Clark
Le Meridien Press Office
Tel: 020 7301 2553
Email: julia.clark@lemeridien.com
http://www.lemeridien.com/le_meridien/news/news240204.shtml

In addition, just as far as the resort is concerned, here is some info
on what it offers guests, so if you were doing any comparison, you
could use this
http://www.lemeridien.com/pdf/pt1332.pdf

Questions 2 and 3 I am still working on. There has been a bit of a
shuffle, on who actually keeps that information for the golf course,
and I have been tied up most of this time trying to get that info. I
hope that I will hear back from Maria, who is trying to find me the
answer today.
Here is some info and sites about the golf course, the golf in the region, etc.
http://www.algarvegolf.net/contact/index.htm 
http://www.algarvegolf.net/courses/penina_resort.htm
http://www.algarvegolfe.com/main.htm
http://www.portugalvirtual.pt/_golf/algarve/glfpenina.html


Now, as far as peak times, they are September, November, March, April, and May
Those came directly from the resort from Pedro Correia who I emailed
back and forth with at info@algarvegolf.net
He said the peak times are usually in direct correlation with a major
event, which, as I am sure you knew, is typical of tourism anywhere.

Now, I mentioned to you earlier that I had some graphs in Portuguese,
also from Pedro, about tourism. I will host them at the link below for
about a week or two so you have time to get them.
http://www.pfile.net/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album20

In addition, as far as tourism goes, here are some other things you
may find interesting about the area.
"Statistics can be very useful to judge the effectiveness of
advertising media. In the case of the Internet the number of "Unique
Visitors" can be considered of paramount importance."
http://www.algarve.ws/statistics-2003.htm
http://viajar.clix.pt/com/noticias.php?id=1399&lg=en
(Has some good information about tourism in 2003 related to 2002)
http://www.portugal.org/tourism/index.html
http://www.portugal.org/tourism/websites.shtml
http://www.portugalinsite.com/Serv/Listcontactos.aspx?idc=406170&lang_id=2
(The info and web address for the US is at the bottom, BTW.)
Other institutions with competence in the tourism sector:
Direcção Geral de Turismo: www.dgturismo.pt
ICEP: www.icep.pt
Instituto Nacional de Formação Turistica: www.inftur.pt
Instituto de Financimanto e Apoio ao Turismo: www.ifturismo.min-economia.pt

Just to let you know, I contacted many of these places through email
about tourism stats, and never heard a word back. I did speak with a
woman named Ana through email, who stated that a lot of the tourism
industry has a hard time with English speaking requests, as the
customer service there is mostly not bilingual, so, that may be why I
did not receive a lot of response to my emails.

Google Searches:
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&c2coff=1&safe=off&q=portuguese+tourism+algarve&spell=1
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=Penina+Resort+website&btnG=Search
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Penina%20resort%20and%20golf%20course&btnG=Google+Search

In addition, here are some links from the emailing I did with Pedro,
that he said you might find useful:
Portugal-info Network:
www.portugal-info.net
www.portugal-info.com
www.algarve-info.com
www.algarvegolf.net
www.property-algarve.net
www.portugal-rentacar.net
www.portugal-golf.info
www.portugal-rentals.net
www.algarve.ws
www.algarve.bz (WAP site)
 
Spain-info Network
www.spain-barcelona.com
www.spain-madrid.com
www.spain-seville.com 

Some of these may have been linked prior by me :)

So, there you go. It is difficult with communications, to find out a
lot of info from that region, as I found out. I hope that though, this
helps you, and, if you can speak or read Portuguese, you are set. As I
said in my clarification, I am still waiting on a few emails back in,
so, once I get more info, I will post it as a clarification. I am glad
GA and I could be of help to you, and thanks for your patience in my
slower than normal information.

Nenna- GA
Google Answers Researcher

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Clarification of Answer by nenna-ga on 19 Apr 2004 08:21 PDT

Greedyman,

here's some more infor on the golf course and some contact info for
surther information


Regarding the water to irrigate the Penina Courses is coming from a Dam
(good water). The quantity depend of the weather conditions throught
the year. ( long winter or short). A full irrigation per day for the 3
courses is 2.000 m3.
Should you like any other information, do not hesitate to contact.

Leonel Rio
Golf Manager
leonel.rio@lemeridien-algarve.com

There you go,
Nenna-GA

Dear greedyman,

I just wanted to let you know that I am working on trying to find your
answer. if some other reseacher comes across it before I do, great,
but I did want to let you know at least 1 person was working on this.

Nenna-GA