19/12/2023
The founder and chairman of the Vila Galé group was named Entrepreneur of the Year at the Expresso Economia and Caixa Geral de Depósitos awards
“I share this award with the more than three thousand people who work at Vila Galé, in Portugal and Brazil. It makes me very happy because it acknowledges the work that the group has done on several fronts. We continue to invest in the Portuguese inland and to restore historical heritage. And in Brazil, where we are already the largest resort chain, we have two more projects underway”, emphasises Vila Galé's chairman, Jorge Rebelo de Almeida.
The award was presented last week at a ceremony at Culturgest in Lisbon, honouring Vila Galé’s expansion in 2023. This year, the group opened four hotels in Portugal: the Vila Galé Collection Monte do Vilar, an agrotourism unit aimed at guests aged over 16, and Vila Galé Nep Kids, a hotel designed for the little ones, where adults can only enter if accompanied by children, both at Herdade do Clube de Campo, in Beja. It also opened its first project in the Azores, Vila Galé Collection São Miguel, a historic hotel in the heart of Campo de São Francisco, in the centre of Ponta Delgada. The Vila Galé group opened the Vila Galé Collection Tomar, As well as the Vila Galé Collection Tomar, after rehabilitating two of the city's emblematic buildings - the former Santa Iria Convent and the former Girls' School.
In addition, the group is also building the Vila Galé Collection Paço do Curutelo, near Ponte de Lima, investing in a wine tourism and Vinho Verde wine production. And it is rehabilitating the Grande Hotel da Figueira, taking over the management of this unit which will open as Vila Galé Collection Figueira da Foz in April 2024. It has also started the Casas de Elvas (lit., Elvas Houses) project in the centre of that Alentejo city.
This year was also marked by the brand's arrival in Cuba, with the opening in October of the all-inclusive Vila Galé Cayo Paredón, in Cayo Paredón Grande. And its entry into Spain, where it plans to open its first unit in that country, the Vila Galé Isla Canela, at Easter next year.
In Brazil, Vila Galé is developing the Vila Galé Collection Sunset Cumbuco and the Vila Galé Collection Ouro Preto in Minas Gerais, which will be a large countryside resort resulting from the restoration of the former Dom Bosco School.
Awarded six years ago, these prizes are an initiative of Expresso and Caixa Geral de Depósitos, in partnership with Informa DB and Deloitte, who draw up the list of the 1000 largest companies in Portugal.
