Professor Luis Coelho
Meet Professor Luis Coelho from the University of the Algarve. He is a lecturer in the Faculty of Economics and is a respected voice in the community, writing for an online magazine as well as his day to day work and being invited to sit on various conference panels. I thoroughly enjoyed our chat and I am sure you will too. Listen here –>
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Show notes
- The vagaries of professional titles in Portugal – different to other places in the world.
- Luis was born in Beja, just north of the Algarve in the Alentejo Province.
- A dream of being a footballer, became a desire to being a vet and then he actually studied economics at the University of the Algarve.
- Studying at the UALG, what life was like… as an outsider (a non Algarvio).
- Early impressions of the Algarve and Monte Gordo in particular.
- Investments in the Algarve: beautifying the cities, sewage improvements, and how clean the tap water is.
- A short history of the Algarve through an economic lens: canned fish industry, Faro airport was constructed in 1969.
- Tinned Food Restaurant in Portimão: Maria do Mar
- Tourism began in Portimão and Tavira and then Vilamoura/Quinta do Lago (with Andre Jordan – see Constantino Jordan’s interview).
- Waves of economic activity from the 70’s until 2010 when the Economic Crisis hit.
- Current economic growth in Portugal is STRONG.
- Main economic activities in the Algarve. Tourism is the major catalyst.
- How to diversify from tourism into other industries. Could tech be one? We discuss CRIA and The Algarve Tech Hub.
- Potential growth areas in the Algarve: AirBnb or “Alojamentio Local”. Olhão and the Italians (Portimão and Tavira could be good places).
- Luis’ restaurant recommendations: Praia de Faro (Faro Beach) Wax Restobar, Ze Maria
- Luis writes for an online magazine called Lugar ao Sul in Portuguese (if you can’t read Portuguese you could always try Google’s laborious translator which is better than it used to be but still definitely not perfect).