Headed by managing partners Andreas A. Stocker and Erik de Vlieger, alongside CEO Patricia Bürer, the group has been able in recent years to expand from its traditional holiday rental, property management and tourism model into numerous different areas.
Patricia Bürer told The Portugal News: “Andy and I have worked together for 29 years in the tourism industry with our own international group with properties across the world in Egypt, Turkey, Spain, France, Mauritius, Switzerland and many other locations. In 1996 we decided to focus on Portugal with the Carvoeiro Clube Group.
“The restructuring of the company then came in 2015 when Erik changed from being a silent partner and instead became a 50 percent shareholder in the company”.
From this point in time the company began to diversify and invest significantly, firstly with the Quinta do Paraíso family resort in Carvoeiro, which saw the group work with Arnold Aarssen of Studio Arte, to transform the resort reception, bar and function room in his renowned style.
“We have managed to develop Quinta do Paraíso into a very popular space for weddings and events as well as continuing our business of properties for holiday rentals. Our cozy Trattoria Oliveira, located in the resort, is open daily for breakfast and dinner and chef Vitor has created a lovely winter menu as well as pizza, pasta and other dishes” said Patricia.
This diversification came further with the taking over of the management of Carvoeiro Clube de Tenís in 2016, followed by the buying of the land and taking over the project of what was to become Quinta do Algarvio Village in 2016, which was opened to the public in April 2019.
“It has been a very busy few years for the group,” said Particia, “But what has made it all possible has been the hands on approach of the entire team.”
“Everyone works together as a team to produce the best results; from our Chief Operations Officer Paulo de Carvalho, to myself and the managing partners, we are all happy to do everything it takes, especially during these times of coronavirus”.
The entire team understands the importance of pulling together and you won’t find the senior members of the team hiding away in an office but instead helping with everything.
“If help is needed with laundry then I will go,” said Patricia, and when it came to the launching of the Quinta do Algarvio village, “everyone was there to finish the project, with Andy even hanging pictures and assembling furniture to make sure it was completed on time.”
In July 2018 the group then opened the Vale do Milho Village Resort and while this year has been challenging for the sector Patricia sees a bright future ahead.
“We are still selling and we are very positive about the future. We have all been so proud of the team this year. While we usually operate with around 200 staff, this year we only had 130 who all managed to service all the resorts which were full from the second week of August until the second week of September.
“One day this situation will be controlled and in the meantime we all have to take extra care to protect not only ourselves but our families, our colleagues and of course the Algarve as a whole as tourism is such an integral part of the local economy.”
Patricia continued: “There is the potential for 2021 to be a good year for tourism as many people were unable to take a holiday this year and we also have all of the rebookings for the coming year for those who were unable to come.”
And looking further into the future, the group is always seeking out new opportunities. “We have loyal clients who like to come and stay in all of our resorts but what we would like, to complement this in the future. would be a boutique hotel in the local area. It would be a good fit for our portfolio and would also add something new for our clients to enjoy”.
In the meantime, Erik is currently developing The Atrium, a landmark feature of Lagoa, which could potentially join the group in the future as tourism apartments: “We are always looking for new opportunities and when both Andy, myself and Erik all agree, then these projects become part of the group.”

Author

Originally from the UK, Daisy has been living and working in Portugal for more than 20 years. She has worked in PR, marketing and journalism, and has been the editor of The Portugal News since 2019. Jornalista 7920

Daisy Sampson