It is now possible to make virtual visits to the Algarve, in real time, through the Interactive Maps, a tool available to national and foreign cybernauts who wish to know the region better. The maps tool was developed by the Algarve Digital Project, in the scope of the sub-project Pólo Geográfico (Geographic Pole), and offers a panoply of interactive functionalities which make it user friendly.

According to Paulo Bernardo, General Manager of Globalgarve, the managing entity of the Project, "the application will be constantly evolving, on the level of content and functionalities, and other developments are anticipated soon".

The system will soon be "broadened for solutions to be used by the local authorities, namely in regard to the management of the territory and its ordination", he emphasised.

Consultation of the interactive maps is realised through an interface which permits exploring the cartography of the region in an accessible way.

Searching through points of interest, such as hotels, restaurants, cafés, bars, public services, pharmacies, health centres, beaches etc. are equally only a click away. There is further the possibility of connecting, from points of interest, to the information available through the item chosen, if it exists on the pages of the tourism portal.

The user can also define the scale of visualisation, consulting the co-ordinates, verifying measurements of area, including the possibility of creating documents in a PDF format from the searches and printing them, or sending them to friends.

This tool also makes available cartography, with administrative limits, roads, railways, locations and the principal hydrographic network. Also available are updated aerial photographs of the whole of the Algarve.

Access to the interactive maps can be made from the Algarve Digital portal (www.algarvedigital.pt) or directly on http://geo.algarvedigital.pt/