Studio Giornalistico

Olbia
D ESTINATION
Dorina Macchi
Costa Smeralda and Olbia
INFO BOX
Destination features
BETWEEN NATURE AND HIGH SOCIETY
Welcome to Italy’s most prestigious destination: Costa Smeralda
in Sardinia. This 55km-stretch of coast begins just outside the
city of Olbia, and going north, unfolds in a rapid succession of
places boasting extraordinary natural beauty, luxury resorts
equipped for every type of event, and the Pevero, a spectacular
golf course facing the sea designed by American Robert Trent
Jones with sand dunes and Mediterranean vegetation.
The colour and clearness of the waters here could even put the
Caribbean to shame, and are bordered by a landscape that
alternates between rocky ridges and small inlets. In short, a
paradise, discovered and developed by Prince Karim Aga Khan,
who began building on this then unspoilt land in the 1960s in
an architectural style that respected the environment and earned
the label “Costa Smeralda style”.
These low-rise buildings hidden by vegetation became the
destinations for incentive trips, prestigious events and the
favourite refuge of international VIPs. To this day, luxury live
alongside natural treasures of great interest. These include the
islands of the Maddalena archipelago, now a national park, and
the nearby island of Budelli, renowned for its pink sandy beach.
These islands are within easy reach of mainland Sardinia, and
the beaches are perfect for unusual team building activities.
“We have organised really enjoyable treasure hunts in rubber
dinghies in the Maddalena archipelago and the small
uninhabited islands of Mortorio and Mortoriotto,” says Cristiano
Fiori of DMC Blu Wonder. “Those looking for more traditional
ideas can choose between trips to Gallura, Costa Smeralda’s
hinterland, and the countless attractions of the coast, which
Towns of interest
Olbia, Porto Cervo, Porto Rotondo
Number of hotel rooms
Costa Smeralda
5-star and 5-star luxury: 530 rooms,
4-star: 1,527 rooms, 3-star: 882 rooms
Airports
Olbia Costa Smeralda airport. Flights to the following
European cities: Barcelona, Basel, Berlin, Cologne,
Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Freidrichshafen, Geneva, Graz,
Hanover, Innsbruck, Lyons, London, Lugano, Madrid,
Manchester, Marseilles, Monaco, Nantes, Oslo, Paris,
Stuttgart, Stockholm, Vienna, Zurich.
Destination Bureau
Sardegna Convention Bureau
tel. + 39 0789 344080, fax + 39 0789 344637
[email protected]
www.sardegnaconventionbureau.it
Valle dell’Erica Resort - Santa Teresa di Gallura
© Archivio Fotografico di Bologna
Baia Sardinia
The Costa Smeralda is famous for its sea and air of
exclusivity, and makes an ideal destination for high-level
and medium-sized events that mainly use the area’s luxury
hotels, resorts and restaurants as locations. A further asset
of the area lies in the beauty and history of its hinterland,
which can be seen in the remnants of Nuragic civilisation
and the region’s gastronomic delights, including extra
virgin olive oil, goats’ cheese and full-bodied red wines.
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LAND-BASED
ACTIVITIES
Costa smer
Porto Rotondo
D ESTINATIONS
alone hosts 90% of all events in Sardinia”. This is mainly thanks
to the top quality locations in the area. “This region has some
renowned restaurants overlooking the sea and some highly
exclusive yacht clubs,” says Fiori. “Number one is Yacht Club
Costa Smeralda, whose members allow us to organise aperitifs
and gala dinners for small groups.”
HOTELS: LUXURY ON THE COAST
Porto Cervo is the largest centre on Costa Smeralda: dozens of
luxury yachts are moored there, particularly in the summer, and
its famous Piazzetta gives visitors the chance to shop in the
designer boutiques of Cartier, Gucci or Missoni, and to spend the
evenings in elegant restaurants and nightspots. The Cervo Hotel
& Conference Centre is located on the Piazzetta, and is a real
feather in the cap for the Starwood group in Sardinia: it is built
in typical Sardinian style on the rock that overlooks the port, and
has a conference centre with a 600-seater plenary room. Luxury
Porto Cervo
The sea is really important in Sardinia, but is not
everything. DMC Turmo Travel is well aware of
this. The agency organises tours and excursions that
reveal the more authentic side of this destination,
steeped in archaeological and artistic heritage. For
centuries, Sardinia’s cultural peculiarities have
suggested that this was the cradle of the civilisation
of Atlantis. Legends apart, we know for certain that
the island was inhabited in the Neolithic era, and
that the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans,
Byzantines have all at some point lived here, and
each left something behind. Thousands of years
later, the most evocative traces remain the nuraghi,
the characteristic stone “fortresses” built between
1800 and 500 BC, which can still be admired today
in the numerous “nuraghi villages”.
One of the programmes offered by Turmo Travel
leaves Olbia for the area around the village of
Oliena, a great example of Spanish-style
architecture, which produces the extraordinary
Cannonau, one of Sardinia’s full-bodied red wines.
The Country Resort Su Gologone is immersed in
this landscape of vineyards and age-old olive
groves, and overlooks a large spring-water
swimming pool. It is one of the most popular events
locations in the region, and has hosted the likes of
Oliena
Valle dell’Erica Resort - Santa Teresa di Gallura
Melià Olbia Resort & Convention Center
Bayer and Kerastase, and the launches of
the new Mini Cabrio and the Toyota Lexus.
It has a passion for cars, which is born out of its
proximity to unknown and unexplored roads
perfect for test drives. Oliena is a good starting
point for trips to various archaeological sites,
the nuraghi village of Tiscali and the town of
Macomer, an important crossroads in history
in which time seems to have stood still.
At Macomer station, visitors can board the Trenino
Verde, only available for groups. This period
carriage pulled by a real 19th century steam
locomotive offers the experience of a relaxing trip
from village to village, with stops for lunch and
shopping for traditional products of the area.
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The Pevero Golf Course - Porto Cervo
Melià Poltu Quatu - Arzachena
hotels with conference facilities abound around Porto Cervo: the
5-star Melià Poltu Quatu, for example, is built in the style of a
hamlet, and offers a conference centre, a spa, a charming
atmosphere, elegant rooms and common areas and ten beautiful
suites facing the sea. Or there is the Hotel Le Palme, set in a
large park and equipped with a 500-seater meeting room.
The ITI Hotels group is set to add two more 5-star hotels to
the list: the Colonna Pevero Beach Hotel, which overlooks one of
the most stunning bays on the coast, and the Colonna Beach
Hotel & Resort: both hotels are due to open in the first half of
2006. Porto Rotondo, a few kilometres north, has a quieter
atmosphere. The Domina Inn Palumbalza is just outside, and
overlooks a private harbour. It also has a beauty centre and
diving facilities. Another structure of interest, particularly for the
incentive market, is the Valle dell’Erica Resort, due to open in
May 2006 on the spectacular coast opposite the uninhabited
island of Spargi: it will have a spa specialising in thalassotherapy
treatments, and at a later date, a conference centre. The resort,
the fruit of restoration work on one of the first holiday villages in
Cervo Hotel & Conference Center - Porto Cervo
Hotel Le Palme & Giardini di Porto Cervo
Spargi island
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CONTACT INFO
Porto Cervo
Porto Rotondo
Olbia
• HOTELS
Cala di Lepre Park Hotel****
Cervo Hotel & Conference
Center*****
Località Cala di Lepre Palau
tel. +39 0789 790078,
fax +39 0789 790079
www.delphina.it
rooms: 150
meeting rooms: 3
main room capacity: 150 seats
Porto Cervo
tel. +39 0789 931111
fax +39 0789 931613
www.sheraton.com/cervo
rooms: 108
meeting rooms: 9
main room capacity: 600 seats
Capo d’Orso Hotel****
Colonna Beach Hotel & Resort*****
(opening April 2006)
Località Cala Capra Palau
tel. +39 0789 790078,
fax +39 0789 790079
www.delphina.it
rooms: 75
meeting rooms: 3
main room capacity: 150 seats
Località Cala Corallina – Porto Cervo
tel. +39 0789 25852
fax +39 0789 28584
www.itihotels.it
rooms: 250
meeting rooms: 12
main room capacity: 600 seats
Colonna Pevero Beach
Hotel*****(opening May 2006)
Località Golfo del Pevero – Porto Cervo
tel. +39 0789 25852
fax +39 0789 28584
www.itihotels.it
rooms: 108
meeting rooms: 8
main room capacity: 380 seats
Country Resort Su Gologone****
Località Su Gologone – Oliena
tel. +39 0784 287512
fax +39 0784 287668
www.sugologone.it
rooms: 68
meeting rooms: 2
main room capacity: 200 seats
Domina Inn Palumbalza****
Località Golfo della Marinella –
Porto Rotondo
tel. +39 0789 32005
fax +39 0789 32009
www.dominapalumbalza.it
rooms: 81
meeting rooms: 1
room capacity: 80 seats
Costa Smeralda and Olbia
the area, is part of the Delphina Hotels Group, which already has
seven hotels in northern Sardinia, including the Capo d’Orso Hotel
and the Cala di Lepre Park Hotel, and an incentive office that
plans tailor-made programmes and activities.
OLBIA: THE ADVANTAGES OF THE CITY
Olbia
Olbiaexpo
Olbia is on the edge of the Costa Smeralda, but undeniably a
city. It is also a ferry terminus, with an international airport, and
is the perfect destination for those who require short transfer
times. About a kilometre from the town, in a tranquil location, is
the Melià Olbia Resort & Convention Center. It has a central
building with 155 rooms, built around a “square” immersed in
Mediterranean vegetation, four smaller buildings with another 64
rooms and five Garden Villas, with private gardens and jacuzzis.
Its open-air Olympic swimming pool, ten tennis courts, football
pitch and sports hall with equipment for team building activities
(for example an eight-metre high Tibetan bridge) make it an
ideal resort for events with a sporting theme. In 2006 it will
open of a large spa and a 19-hole golf course.
In Olbia city, it is worth mentioning Olbiaexpo, a multi-purpose
centre built from what was once the only hotel in the city after
50 years lying empty. It now has a meeting room, an exhibition
and banqueting hall with columns and a rib vault, as well as an
internal courtyard that is home to cittadella dell’artigianato, a
promotion and sales centre for regional crafts.
Olbiaexpo recently took over the management of the rooms of
the Museo del Mare, or sea museum, a building that stretches
along the lagoon in front of the city, offering a fantastic vantage
point from which to observe the flamingos that inhabit it, and
the port. The museum is not open yet, but the venue is already
available for corporate events.
Hotel Le Palme & Giardini
di Porto Cervo****
Località Liscia di Vacca – Porto Cervo
tel. +39 0789 906011
fax +39 0789 906012
www.hotellepalmeportocervo.it
rooms: 290
meeting rooms: 4
main room capacity: 500 seats
Melià Olbia Resort &
Convention Center****SUP
Olbia
tel. +39 0789 554000
fax +39 0789 57700
www.meliaolbia.solmelia.com
number of rooms: 219
meeting rooms: 8
main room capacity: 800 seats
Melià Poltu Quatu*****
Località Poltu Quatu – Arzachena
tel. +39 0789 956200
fax +39 0789 956201
www.meliapoltuquatu.solmelia.com
rooms: 152
meeting rooms: 7
main room capacity: 180 seats
Stelle Marine Hotel & Resort****
Località Mannena – Cannigione
tel. +39 0789 86305
fax +39 0789 86332
www.hotelstellemarine.com
rooms: 71
meeting rooms: 1
room capacity: 200 seats
Valle dell’Erica Resort****SUP
(opening May 2006)
Valle dell’Erica – Santa Teresa di Gallura
tel. +39 0789 790078
fax +39 0789 790079
www.delphina.it
number of rooms: 140
• CONFERENCE AND EVENTS VENUES
Olbiaexpo
Via Porto Romano 8 – Olbia
tel. and fax +39 0789 206078
www.olbiaexpo.com
meeting rooms: 1
room capacity: 180 seats
• DMCS
Blu Wonder
tel. +39 0789 957011
fax +39 0789 957254
www.bluwonder.com
Turmo Travel
tel. +39 0789 21487
fax +39 0789 25539
www.gruppoturmotravel.com
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