Reminiscing about outstanding people and
writing about them is not always an easy task. Because words can become scarce,
as can pages, when in fact there is so much more to say. In this issue of V&G,
an issue that is dedicated to the Portuguese Rivieras, we want to remember the
admirable André Jordan – the man who created Quinta do Lago, Vilamoura and the
Belas Clube de Campo, while facing so many other challenges throughout his
life.
He is the man who transformed tourism in
Portugal. The man who was born in Poland (in 1933), lived in Brazil (where his
family sought refuge in 1940, after Nazi persecution in Europe) and spent much
of his time in Portugal (he came here in 1970). In February he passed away aged
90.
The businessman devoted much of his life
to real estate and tourism. Much of his life was spent in Portugal, where two
of his four children were born (he was married four times) and where his
grandchildren were born.André Jordan, also known as the King
of Portuguese Tourism, dreamed of a top-tier resort that would reflect a
unique lifestyle. He dreamt it and brought it to life. This is how Quinta do
Lago came into being, in 1971, which he sold at the end of the 1980s to take on
another project –Belas Clube de Campo. Along the way, he returned to the
Algarve as a businessman, more precisely to Vilamoura (in 1995), to develop the
Vilamoura XXI project, a destination where one of the streets was renamed
Avenida Comendador André Jordan.
