Veja +1.000 de razões para ir de férias à Madeira …
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A video entitled “Secrets of Madeira island” by Flying Angel (?). Nice video images with equal nice background music (more…)

[PT] Lindos tapetes de flores que são colocados ao longo da placa central da Avenida Arriaga entre a Sé Catedral e a Rotunda do Infante durante os dias da Festa da Flor (2009).

[EN] Beautiful carpets of flowers that are placed along the Avenida Arriaga between the Cathedral and Rotunda do Infante during the days of Madeira Flower Festival (2009). (more…)

The festivities begin on Thursday 15 April with the opening of the Flower Market in the Central Square of Avenida Arriaga, the Flower Exhibition at Largo da Restauração and the construction of delicate floral carpets along the main streets of Funchal.
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Watch the Madeira Islands from spectacular aerial views. (more…)

“Des ruelles de la Zona Velha de Funchal au sable doux et fin de la plage de Porto Santo, venez découvrir Madère comme vous ne l’avez jamais vu grâce à une carte interactive pleine de vidéos sur” (more…)

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Madeira Island is in my opinion one of the most awful places to go for holidays. Who wants to go to a beautiful island with a gorgeous environment situated in the Atlantic Ocean? I have heard many visitors saying that it is the perfect holiday destination … which unfortunately is true. Madeira has majestic mountains, a wonderful climate, and beautiful views all in one! Now … lets be honest ….. do you really want to go to such a place during your vacation?? Come on! Who does that?

Can you believe that there are travelers who prefer to go to Madeira instead of going to the Dominican Republic or the Caribbean? And why? …. because Madeira has breathtakingly views? Well I got news for you … the views here are just what they are … breathtaking! They are too beautiful! I do not believe anyone would want to experience that?

A few years ago I thought the lack of sandy beaches here on Madeira was a good thing …. but then I saw the neighbouring island of Porto Santo … and unfortunately …. it has more than a 8 km long sandy golden beach. Aaarrggh!! A tropical waterfront that is washed by warm, crystalline ocean-waters. Blehh! Such a place is only for those who wants to refuge to a quiet, nauseous relaxing holiday.

But hey … there is still more! Are you sure you want to continue reading this? If you do … then it is at your own risk! (more…)

A Swedish film report about Funchal, Madeira. Filmed in April 2006. Unfortunately the footage only shows the standard attractions such as Mercado dos Lavradores, fish-market, cable car to Monte, toboggan, wine lodge and a short hike on a levada. Meanwhile there is much more to see here on Madeira. (more…)

The German television company WDR has broadcast at the beginning of this month in their weekly travel program Wunderschön! (Beautiful!), a 90 minutes report of Madeira “Blumeninsel im Atlantik” (Island of Flowers), presented by Tamina Kallert.

WebTV Madeira “Blumeninsel im Atlantik” (90 min. German)

Although it is in German and 1 hour and a half long … it is worth to watch this webTV program.

One thing I noticed when watching this German travel report ….. from it you can learn what visitors want to see and visit. Remember, this is a 1 hour and a half long TV program, so it should cover the most important attractions and things-to-do that a German traveler will be looking for in Madeira. I got a good impression of what that is … but I leave it up to you to find it out yourself. I am curious if you come to the same conclusion as I did.

After watching the TV report one will learn that all the attractions that were covered by the German Wunderschön! group had one thing in common …. they all missed one characteristic …. namely “modern”. Talking in Internet-terms … if you could tag all the attractions mentioned in the TV program … the word “modern”, “new-flanged” or “futuristic” would not be one of them. In the German travel coverage I missed things like modern entities such as Story Center, Casa das Mudas, Madeira Magic, Santana Theme park, trip with one of the catamarans, double deck buses, shopping malls/centers, and also none of the modern hotels were mentioned.

My conclusion is that visitors prefer to experience the old-fashioned. Searching for old traditions and typical things that they do not get to see in their home country or have been lost during the modernization. Just ask a Madeira visitor to name the characteristics of Madeira …. and you will hear most of them mentioning the same subjects that were covered in the German TV program. This is a lesson that one can learn from.

My advice to (future) entrepreneurs on Madeira: learn first the Madeiran (old) culture …. search for images of (lost) traditions …. and if you can restore (part of it) back …. then you will be a winner in the area of tourism.