Following Our Moral Compass to the HQA Program | Janine G
When Janine and her husband Dave set out for a walk in Portugal eight years ago, they didn’t…
When Janine and her husband Dave set out for a walk in Portugal eight years ago, they didn’t expect the trail would lead to a future business endeavour in western Europe.
“We walked the Rota Vincentina from Santiago do Cacém, the 200 kilometers down to Sagres. Absolutely fantastic walk, I highly recommend people do it,” Janine fondly recalls. “We fell in love with Portugal and the food, the culture.”
Many travelers have enjoyed a similar experience on the historic trek, but the journey planted a seed in the Canadian couple, one that would eventually grow into a stronger relationship with the country and its people.
With their children already out of the home and exploring the world as adults, Janine and Dave decided to do the same. Europe beckoned, and they discovered traveling in a recreational vehicle suited their shared desire to explore the smaller communities and attractions found off the beaten track.
In fact, they enjoyed it so much that they began to research opportunities to earn European residency. At the same time, the couple was noticing a growing number of RV aficionados were encountering unforeseen challenges while making their way around European countries.
“As our lifestyle changed and we decided that we wanted to have a beach house and mountain cabin on wheels,” she says tongue-in-cheek, “we saw Portugal as an opportunity.”
Finding an Alternative to the Golden Visa
Like many people who decide to pursue residency in Portugal, Janine was initially met with a barrage of information on the country’s Golden Visa program from the countless companies that service the program.
“The Golden Visa program in itself sounds wonderful. The world golden is what draws people in,” she asserts. “It requires an investment of time and money. Usually, people go into that from a real estate perspective; it’s traditionally how it’s been done in Portugal and Malta and a variety of other places. That ties you to that country and sometimes in the haste to get involved in that, you can make a real estate investment that’s not necessarily for you. And there are a lot of difficulties in the language barrier buying real estate. And that just wasn’t going to necessarily be the avenue we wanted to go down.”
Having built a successful investment career based in part on being very thorough and well prepared, Janine comprehensively investigated each of Portugal’s residency pathways to see which one would be the best match for her.
“The D7 and D8 visas are specifically for retired people, that’s not necessarily what we are. I persistently had to keep searching and just looked up alternatives to this program, so that’s how I found it.”
The HQA® Program: Where Business Meets Pleasure
“It” was the HQA® Program, which not only offered her a fast and direct path to residency, but also an opportunity to launch a startup in Portugal.
“The reason I chose Empowered Startups is that it’s from Vancouver and so am I, so I could supposedly knock on their door if I needed to,” she admits with a smile. “The (initial interest in) the HQA® Program was the fact that we wanted to stay in Portugal as Canadians longer than three months and enjoy winter and summer, all aspects of it, and be able to come and go. We didn’t want to spend six months, which is under the D7. And this particular visa was an opportunity for that. Combined with the idea of a new business opportunity, it seemed like a perfect marriage for us.”
As a lifelong entrepreneur with a keen eye for opportunity, business ideas come naturally to Janine. Realizing she needed an innovative venture in order to participate in the HQA® Program, she began to imagine how the real-life challenges she was seeing with motorhome travel could be solved.
“For example, we have a very large 18-ton motorhome, so right now, we have an inability to put the size of our vehicle into any app and find suitable locations for it. Porto is completely impossible for a size of vehicle like ours to go to,” she describes. “Or if you’re looking for winery tourism. When we drove from Spain into Portugal, we came through the Beja Alentejo area. We stumbled on a wine route. I saw the sign on the side of the road, and when I went to look it up on my phone, there wasn’t enough information on it. So that wine route is not on there. This is what’s missing at the moment, where you can narrow down that aspect of it.”
A Project that Benefits Portugal and its Visitors
After being accepted into the HQA® Program, Janine began exchanging her ideas with startup leaders at Empowered Startups and developed a focused concept that could benefit both travelers and the Portuguese economy. Through Empowered’s network of Portuguese research institutions, she was paired with a top-tier university that will help her evolve her model through a collaborative R&D project.
“I’m working with the Polytechnic University in Coimbra. The project is for motorhome tourism in rural areas, taking it away from the coastal, west coast and the southern part. Ultimately, what is missing at this moment is utilizing an app and turning the project into an app with AI that can use predictability to help people with their travel plans in Portugal,” she details.
A curious traveler herself, Janine is well aware of the advantages that come along with venturing into parts of the country that are relatively unknown to the majority of tourists.
“You get regional foods. And for us, we’re blessed that we can do this slow type of travel and stay in a place for three or four days because we like the food. We went to a mercado, a lovely, great farmer’s market. And upstairs in another village was a great restaurant where we had black pork in Alentejo. Absolutely fantastic,” she exclaims before continuing to illustrate some the incredible opportunities that most travelers are simply unaware of.
“We were in Alentejo area and there is a company that started a wine experience. They go to local wineries and buy the wine, then showcase them with food. It’s a business that organically developed for them, but they have had an inability to get customers and draw customers to them. We were able to find a spot on their property and go through this type of tourism.”
Contributing to Portugal’s Rural Economy
“I think we spent in three days approximately €140. That’s the wine experience, that’s the food, we paid them to stay. We’re currently staying nearby in Coimbra, outside of the city. And in the course of the 10 days, we’re contributing another €170 just to that family. There’s a local restaurant we will probably eat at. So, we can contribute to the community and more into the rural aspects.”
Having become a part of the motorhome community in Europe, Janine and Dave are well aware of how many others would both welcome such unique experiences and relish the opportunity to support small businesses in Portugal. She sees her startup as a means of increasing prosperity in rural regions of the country while exposing a wider audience to more of the rich culture Portugal has to offer.
“The advantage of working under the HQA® is we have an opportunity to grow a business, to contribute to Portugal in ways that are exciting. We can draw business to Portugal. We contribute and want to contribute; we don’t want to take away. This program fell into alignment with our moral compass.”
A Project that Supports Portugal’s Future
Janine is extremely thoughtful when she considers the effects of her project on rural Portugal. Given the country’s history, charm, and relative affordability, she foresees motorhome tourism increasing quickly in coming years, which is why she is advocating for responsible planning to accommodate the needs of those traveling in this manner.
“It also needs to be so that Portugal doesn’t get overrun in motorhome tourism as it gets pushed from Spain into Portugal, which is currently happening,” Janine discloses.
She’s optimistic that her project can get more people thinking about and taking steps toward creating sustainable infrastructure to support rural communities and the anticipated uptick in activity. And by working with talented researchers and students at the Polytechnic University of Coimbra, she’s also excited to foster the growth of dynamic young minds that can benefit from the lessons she’s learned as an entrepreneur.
