Madeira, a certified destination of excellence

Usually every holiday destination, for leisure or business, considers that has quality, and some considers the better. Many have standing to do so. Others do not. Or anything like that, though asserting themselves as such.
Thus, nothing better than finding ways to sustain what each destination states. And then there's that set parameters attesting the claims.
That's what happened with the island of Madeira, in Portugal (Europe). Although it is a quality tourist destination known for over 200 years, join an international system that would standardize the quality of the destination, measured by objective criteria.

That's what makes System of Measures for Excellence in Destinations, or SMED, of the World Centre for Excellence Destinations, from World Tourism Organization.
The final report was submitted in November 2009. Thereafter, the destination and all actors, whether private or public, can use to pass the International Certificate attesting to the Excellence of the Madeira Islands.
However, achieving this international certification is not a finished product. Besides requiring careful attention to maintaining the standards that prove this point, it has to involve all of the work to improve what the report as less favorable, as well as suggestions that point to the excellence that reaches the maximum.
In fact, the results indicate 15 standard items, with which it was ranked the destination. Of these, 6 have excellent performance. Others are high-performance 6.And third are of average performance.

Professor Caesar Catañeda, operations director of the World Centre of Excellence for Destinations characterized the performance of destination and has all the strengths and points for suggestions to improve them: Excellent performance: Mountain Landscape, Security, Room, Culture and tradition, Shopping and Diving; High performance: Landscape and Environment, Transport, Structure, Information and Welcome , Health Spa and Support Services; and Average performance: Marketing and sales, Food and beverage and Beaches.

SMED destinations in all World

In the world, are certified by the SMED destinations like Madeira (Portugal), Crete (Greece), Riviera Maya (Mexico), Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Samos (Greece), Tela (Honduras), Andorra, Mexico City (Mexico), Douro Valley (Portugal), lest Cantons d'(Canada), Montreal (Canada)

Benefits of the SMED and how it can be used

Like we can read in the Web page of World Centre Execellence for Destinations, the SMED allows partner destinations to build upon their strengths and identify key issues to be addressed.

In today’s fiercely competitive global tourism market, the information provided by the SMED can give to Madeira island an important competitive edge.

In addition, the SMED brings added value to partner destinations that key stakeholders may use as a: diagnostic tool, because the SMED provides the most complete and accurate portrait possible of a tourist destination at a given point in time; progress tool, because the SMED highlights the destination’s strengths and weaknesses, thus allowing destination stakeholders to take concrete steps to maintain and improve performance; management tool, because the SMED recommends monitoring and follow-up actions for improvement to be undertaken in light of evaluation results; collaboration tool, because the SMED can be used to unite destination stakeholders by mobilizing them around strategic goals and joint actions aimed at developing the sustainable performance of the destination; market positioning tool, because the SMED brings a destination’s unique characteristics and attributes to the fore, allowing the destination to refine and improve its market positioning and brand definition; comparative analysis tool, because the SMED can be used to compare one destination with others, or to world destination benchmarks, making collective experience and best practices available to all partners of this global-scale project, and, finally, communication tool, because the SMED evaluation recognizes strengths the destination can use in communications addressed to its target clienteles and the media.

About Madeira island, what I can say it’s that a there is an island that welcomes tourists from the fifteenth century.  After the Portuguese started to populate the island in the Atlantic Ocean, the trade came up with people from around the world. It was the genesis of business tourism of today, which another viewpoint, continues.

Evolved into the health tourism has more than 200 years, today is a tourist recognized for a destination of excellence, with over one million people visiting every year, seeking its natural beauty to relax and lose themselves in their taken to bring water from north more abundant for the plantations in the south.

Madeira island is 310 miles from the African coast and 620 miles from the European continent, which is the equivalent of a 1 hour 30 minute flight from Lisbon.

The Madeira archipelago, discovered by the portuguese in 1418, is made up of the islands of Madeira, Porto Santo and the uninhabited islands of Selvagens and Desertas.

 It is situated between latitude 32º22’20" and 33º7’50" with its longitude between 16º16’30W and 17º16’38"W. 
The island has a surface area of 459 square miles (741 km2), (35 miles long and 13 miles wide).

Because of their privileged geographical position and mountainous relief, have a surprisingly mild climate.

One of the peculiarities of the island are walking routes, watercourses man-made to bring the most abundant water from north to south, fall its spectacular landscape, one of the greatest tourist attractions of the Island of Madeira. The luxurious vegetation continues to fascinate all those closely drawn to nature. 
Madeira island included in the bio-geographic region of Macaronesia and retains a natural heritage of great scientific value. That’s why was distinguished by UNESCO as World Natural Heritage.

It’s for all of these things that the people tell that is the Atlantic pearl.