Better Living in Portugal Exhibition - ExpoArade, Portimão

The Better Living in Portugal 2008 exhibition was delighted to welcome Algarve's Civil Governor Isilda Gomes (2nd right). Also pictured are Christopher Stephen, President of AFPOP (left), Henrique Pinheiro, owner of Medal Lda and member of the Management Council and Eugenia, wife of Christopher Stephen.

Algarve Laptops were a major sponsor of the exhibition in 2008. Pictured is Pedro fro Algarve Laptops (centre) discussing the various screen sizes available in laptops.

The Resident has been a sponsor of BLiP since its inception. With constant traffic on the stand The Resident staff reported good business, interest and were pleased to hear the many nice comments concerning the paper's content and continued integrity.

AFPOP had a great exhibition, once again, signing up many new members and welcoming long established members to their stand. This year Maria (pictured with flowers) celebrated 10 years as an employee of AFPOP. She is pictured with her colleagues and Christopher Stephen, President of AFPOP.

First time at BLiP for Andrea (pictured middle) and her team. Here they show off their snazzy T-Shirts and were delighted when they won Best Dressed Stand at the 2008 event.

These two lovely ladies from Solambiente proved that it was not just the products and prices on their stand that attracted visitors.

Luzdoc's stand was, as always, a great attraction for hundreds of visitors throughout the weekend

Kitchens to dream of from Elite of Lagoa.

Denny from M2M Blinds proved - again - that you do not have to be a large company to exhibit and succeed at the Better Living in Portugal exhibition.

** 2001 **

In 2001 Sheena Rawcliffe, who was then the President of AFPOP, the Association for Foreign Residents and Visitors to Portugal, suggested to her colleagues on the Management Council that it would be a good idea to have an annual event at which members of the association (at the time there were around 4500 members) could meet companies offering products and services.

And so, the Better Living in Portugal Exhibition was born.  The first event, in November 2001, was held in the Fissul Centre in Silves.  The venue was chosen for its accessibility from the pan-Algarve motorway and because it was reasonably central for most members of AFPOP.

The exhibition in 2001 was a great success, both from the exhibitors’ viewpoint and also that of the visitor.  Visitors were queuing up before the event was officially opened and it was business all the way throughout the day.

** 2002 **

In 2002 the event was extended with a business to business initiative on the Saturday afternoon when 600 people attended.  Once again the public flocked in on the Sunday to the Fissul Centre in Silves, with 3200 people spending enjoyable hours visiting the 110 exhibitors taking part.

** 2003 **

The 2003 event was again held in Silves at the Fissul Centre, but due to space requirements far outweighing the space available, it was a difficult exhibition to organize. Some companies on the waiting list opted to take outside space rather than miss being at BLiP which was fast becoming an Algarve tradition.  Fortunately the weather was kind and the event was yet another great success with 3800 visitors passing through the doors.

** 2004 **

Having filled the Fissul Centre to bursting point, AFPOP had to find a new venue for the Better Living in Portugal Exhibition, if the exhibition was to continue to grow.  A visit to Expo-Arade in Portimão proved to be the answer to their prayers.  With two permanent tented pavilions and plenty of room to expand the exhibition, as well as good car parking and excellent access it was decided to make Expo-Arade the home of BLiP.  Once again the take-up of stand space was great and in 2004 AFPOP was delighted to welcome many new exhibitors as well as those who had been with the exhibition from the very beginning.

The 2004 event was open for two full days to the public and for the fourth year running visitors flocked to the event; by 11am on Saturday the car park was showing very few empty spaces.  Exhibitors hailed Expo-Arade as a great venue for BLiP and visitors, which numbered around 7000, also found the new home of BLiP excellent.

**2005**

The 2005 event was the first to be organised on a commercial turnkey basis.

Exiberia (part of Canary Wharf Lda) was proud to have been awarded the contract by AFPOP to organize the exhibition for AFPOP.

Held on October 15 and 16 at Expo-Arade in Portimão the event was a sell-out with 317 spaces being taken up by exhibitors from all spectrums of business life in Portugal.

During the two day event we welcomed over 8000 visitors to BLiP and as the sun shone visitors and exhibitors alike were  extremely pleased they had been at BLiP. And this year AFPOP was particularly delighted to welcome The Civil Governor of the Algarve Sr Antonio Pina

On the Sunday morning the AOA held the Mamaratona starting and finishing at the BLiP event and raising a whopping €8130 for its funds with 757 people taking part.

** 2006 **

Once again in 2006 Exiberia organised BLiP for AFPOP on October 14 and 15.

BLiP 2006 was one of the first events to use the new purpose-built centre and there were the inevitable teething situations.

The facilities in the new pavilion are far superior than anywhere that BLiP has been held in the past. But due to the number of spaces booked we had to use a temporary structure parallel to the main building. Whilst this provided a platform for many exhibitors it was not of the quality we had hoped for. This situation will not occur in future Better Living in Portugal exhibitions.

The other issue which was not within our control was the traffic jam which started early on the Sunday morning and lasted well past opening time.  Exhibitors are reminded that they should allow plenty of time to reach the site on the Sunday, as with the traffic from Mamaratona things will be busy!

Again, the weather was kind to us in 2006 and we welcomed nearly 8500 visitors over the weekend and the runners at the Mamamaratona had a great time raising a great deal of money for this cancer charity.

**  2007  **

The 2007 event was another rousing success at the Portimão Arena (ExpoArade) and having ironed out most of the problems encountered in 2006 the exhibition went very smoothly.

Christopher Stephen, President of AFPOP, was delighted to welcome Celia Edwards, the British Consul to the Algarve, to the seventh BLIP.

This year exhibitors were accommodated on the ground and first floors of the pavilion and the whole event looked extremely professional with all exhibitors making a great effort on their stands. (See also this website's News section).

Again BLIP was blessed with good weather - this year hotter than most people can remember at this time in October.

Attendance was lower than in 2006 on the Saturday - maybe due to the number of sporting fixtures involving England!! But Sunday proved to be as busy as it has been in the past with queues of traffic forming early in the morning.  The overspill carparks identified by Exiberia were put to good use, as the BLIP busses brought visitors (and in some cases exhibitors) in to the event from these carparks.  AFPOP and Exiberia would like to thank Auto Jardim and Yor Car Hire for their generosity in supply the vehicles.

Exiberia were most grateful to the major sponsors in 2007 - The Resident, The Enova Group and British Airways.

The attendance for 2007 was 7800, and many exhibitors have reported that they made many more sales this year than in previous years.

The MM7 runners who had turned out in their hundreds, had a tough time in the heat, but those who supported the fund raising event by walking thoroughly enjoyed it.

If you missed BLIP 2007 then you must make a note in your 2008 agenda not to miss next year's event!

**  2008  **

Who could ask for anything more? - that was the cry from the exhibitors at the 2008 BLiP event. Despite forecasts of poor weather, the sun shone; despite gloom and doom in the financial markets, all those in finance and finance related businesses reported good visitor numbers and interest in the products they had to offer; despite concern that Portugal, like many other European countries, was to experience a serious downturn in spending power many of our exhibitors at the 2008 Better Living in Portugal event reported good interest, better sales and a positive hope for the forthcoming 12 months.

Thanks to all those who supported the 2008 BLiP by taking space and to the 7800 plus visitors who helped make the exhibition, yet again, the best event of its type.