From food and hospitality to destination development and immersive experiences, what does it really take to create a local tourism experience that visitors value and the people behind it can sustain?
That is the question at the heart of Panel 1 – Local Tourism Experience at the 5th edition of the IPBN Annual Tourism Conference, taking place on 22 October at WELL Vale do Lobo.
The conference will bring together tourism and hospitality professionals, entrepreneurs, and industry experts from Ireland and Portugal to explore how innovation is reshaping the sector. The Local Tourism Experience panel will look specifically at how destinations and businesses can offer quality-assured experiences while making a genuine difference to the people, producers, and businesses responsible for creating them.
Moderated by IPBN Board Member Sharon Farrell, the panel brings together three very different perspectives on the visitor experience: Jonnie Pratt, Head Chef and Partner at Restaurante Tribulum; Gerry Fagan, Co-founder of NOOVA World; and Hernâni Estêvão, General Manager of Vale do Lobo Golf & Beach Resort.
Together, they will explore what happens when the focus moves beyond simply attracting visitors to creating experiences that are distinctive, high quality, locally connected, and commercially sustainable.
For Jonnie Pratt, Head Chef and Partner at Tribulum, creating a memorable experience begins with what is on the plate, but certainly does not end there.
A chef with around 25 years of experience across the international hospitality industry, Jonnie describes his work as project-focused consultancy, adapting his skills and experience to each new concept, with a desire to “make a difference.”
That philosophy is evident at Tribulum, the Almancil restaurant he co-founded with Justin O’Hanlon. The restaurant places a strong emphasis on fresh ingredients, with the team growing its own herbs, fruit, and vegetables, and developing a menu centred around a “field to fork” approach.
Jonnie's experience also illustrates how local tourism experiences can evolve in response to changing circumstances. When the pandemic forced Tribulum to adapt its plans, the team launched a home catering operation, allowing the business to continue delivering its food and hospitality experience while its restaurant plans were put on hold.
His perspective brings an important question to the panel: how can tourism businesses create experiences that feel genuinely local and distinctive while also supporting the people, skills, producers, and businesses that make those experiences possible?
Gerry Fagan, Co-founder of NOOVA World, brings a different perspective, shaped by more than four decades of experience in investment, residential and mixed-use development, leisure, and destination projects.
His two decades working in Portugal have included a key role in the development of the Oceânico Group, where he was involved in the creation of more than 2,500 homes, leisure facilities, and golf courses.
Today, through DDM, Gerry continues to work across development, asset management, and operations, while also exploring new approaches to how people experience destinations.
One of those ventures is NOOVA World, described as the first 360° immersive LED multi-use event dome. The concept opens up another dimension of the tourism experience, using technology and immersive environments to create new possibilities for events, entertainment, and destination activity.
His perspective raises a broader question for the tourism industry: how can destinations continue to innovate and offer something new without losing the sense of place that makes them worth visiting in the first place?
Hernâni Estêvão, General Manager of Vale do Lobo Golf & Beach Resort, brings the perspective of a major Algarve tourism operator with a strong focus on service, performance, strategic planning, and sustainable growth.
Hernâni’s approach combines customer experience with the operational realities behind it: managing budgets, improving efficiency, developing teams, and ensuring that business objectives are aligned with the quality of the experience being delivered.
That people-focused approach is particularly relevant to a discussion about local tourism. A destination experience may be what a visitor remembers, but behind that experience are teams, suppliers, producers, businesses, infrastructure, and communities that need to benefit from tourism and have the capacity to sustain it.
Hernâni will also bring continuity from his earlier keynote at the conference, “Innovation & New Challenges of the Tourism Industry,” where he will set the broader context for how tourism businesses are responding to a rapidly changing sector.
Moderating the conversation will be Sharon Farrell, IPBN Board Member, whose professional background spans more than 30 years in financial services, including investment advice, wealth protection, retirement planning, inheritance and legacy planning, and business operations.
That perspective adds another important dimension to the conversation: how do we make quality tourism experiences economically viable, and how can investment support the businesses and people creating them?
Because while “authenticity” has become one of tourism's most frequently used words, creating authentic experiences is not simply a matter of marketing. It requires investment, skilled people, strong local businesses, quality products, thoughtful development, and an understanding of what makes a destination distinctive.
The panel will explore how those elements can come together — and how tourism can create value that extends beyond the visitor.
Join us on 22 October at WELL Vale do Lobo for a morning of discussion, insight, and networking with tourism and hospitality professionals from across Ireland and Portugal. Registration is open here.
| The IPBN is supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland under the ESP Grant programme |
