Lisboa, 11 June - The second edition of the Tuna Route, which ran from 4 e 9 de Junho, in Porto Santo, It has proved that gastronomy can and should be used as a tourist attraction and destination tool of dissemination.
According to Bruno Martins, Director General of Vila Baleira Resort, unit organizing this festival, this year adhesion was substantially higher than that of last year. And this without even having the data of the participating restaurants. I have not been present in the first edition and was only three days of the festival. But what I saw was a room full, todos os dias, ao jantar. What I saw was workshops with a membership of tens of people. That issued opinions, They asked questions and not coibiam to taste the end result.
This was only the second edition of the Tuna Route. But what I saw and impressions that were transmitted me is that this is a good way for Porto Santo on the map. Because managed to attract not only the Portuguese mainland, but also including foreign and Madeira.
If there are things to improve? Of course Yes. Firstly a better size of the room and the kitchen. That had direct impact on service. Participation exceeded expectations. O que, combined with the traditional difficulty of raising human resources - even resorting to students of Tourism Schools - damaged, em parte, dinners and caused attention to turn into the delay between dishes and not the food itself. What is a shame because true delights were served.
The equates organizations, no próximo ano, "Spread" dinners for other spaces that not only the restaurant of Vila Baleira Resort Dunes. This may be a solution. Especially if the adhesion is commensal, at least, similar to this year.
Alexandra Costa
