Vila Galé joins Sindepat Summit

José António Bastos, Director of Operations Brazil was part of the panel on Historical and Cultural Tourism

On 22nd April, Vila Galé participated at the 4th edition of SINDEPAT Summit. This event held in Brasilia gathers the main park operators, attractions, and the major suppliers in the sector.

Vila Galé’s Director of Operations, José António Bastos, participated in the panel “Touristic Utilization of Historical and Cultural Assets”, alongside the General Coordinator of Partnerships and Concessions of the Ministry of Tourism, Rafael Costa Morgado, and Osmar Carneiro de Guimarães Lima, Head of the Department of Structuring of Real Estate Projects of BNDES.

“The Vila Galé chain has a very strong relationship with Historical and Cultural Tourism. I presented five historical hotels that we restored. They were deteriorated and today they tell a piece of History. We believe that tourism and culture also need to be always connected and that’s why our hotels have themes such as literature and painting”, explains the director.

Among the hotels presented, there was the charming Vila Galé Rio de Janeiro

Located in Lapa, which was an old palace from the 19th century. Due to its advanced state of degradation, the restoration work took two years. It opened in December 2014.

“We hired researchers, who discovered that the property appears on the city plan since 1866 and stood out as the Conde de Leopoldina’s Palace. More recently, before we acquired it, the building was used as the headquarters of the private school Moderna Associação Brasileira de Ensino (MABE) for over 60 years”, recalls Bastos.

The SINDEPAT Summit is an event for the Brazilian parks, attractions, and entertainment industry. It aims to provide networking, promote lectures and panels with cases and trends, as well as presentations of products, services and technological innovations (showcases) by exhibitors for the sector of theme parks, water parks, tourist attractions, and family entertainment centres.