About Us
The Algarve Walking Season (AWS) is a regional project for the joint promotion of walking festivals held in the Algarve hinterland. It includes five festivals whose scope is to value the territory endogenous resources, its heritage, and its communities.
The project was born in 2018 out of the need to create a structured offer of walking festivals in the Algarve region, articulated in a common calendar of events, developed, throughout the seasons and under a reinforced communication strategy.
Objectives
To establish itself as a regional brand for the joint promotion of hiking festivals on the national and international markets.
Aims to promote nature and cultural tourism in the region, particularly in low-density areas, and strengthen its attractiveness as an excellence destination for hiking.
It aims to help mitigate the effects of seasonal tourism in the region by focusing on periods outside the high season.
Valorizing the region's heritage, natural and cultural elements and contributing to the sustainability of the local economies of the territories where the events are held.
Promote territorial and social cohesion in Algarve, reducing its asymmetries.
About the Festivals
Each event has its own identity, based on a local or regional landmark, and autonomy to develop its program but must respect some basic criteria defined when the brand was created. These include the need for each event to include more than one day of activities; to include walks for different target audiences, namely families, sportspeople, regular walkers, specialists, among others; to involve organized local groups, tourist entertainment companies operating in the area, as well as other economic agents; valuing communities.