A citizen posted a text on the social network Reddit discussing the fact that many people call Madeira the ‘Hawaii of Europe’. “I just visited Madeira and, apart from some green mountains, it has nothing to do with Hawaii”, says the commenter, who considers the comparison to be “a complete lie” and blames marketing companies for starting such a “rumor”. Could the title ‘Hawaii of Europe’ have been the result of a prepared strategy, possibly for the purpose of promoting our country as a tourist destination?
It should be noted that the titles of ‘Hawaii of Europe’ or ‘Hawaii of the Atlantic’ are not exclusively attributed to Madeira. A search on YouTube reveals several videos of tourists who claim to have experienced something of the Hawaiian atmosphere on some of the Azores islands, such as São Miguel and Flores, with their green mountains and huge waves. There are also those who consider that this title applies to Tenerife, in the Canary Islands.
But there is no doubt that Madeira clearly leads in the number of videos with the aforementioned designation. Almost all of them are created by young people who run channels dedicated to travel or the best places for digital nomads and foreign retirees to live. We did not find any official videos from the Madeira Promotion Association, nor from large tour operators or companies in the sector that use this analogy in their main message.
So what is the origin of the title ‘European Hawaii’ applied to Madeira? Several possibilities are put forward in the 52 comments on the aforementioned Reddit post. Some say it is the ‘fault’ of influencers on networks such as Tiktok and YouTube who are trying to get clicks from people who fantasize about moving their residence to Madeira. “It seems like a marketing campaign. The objective is clear: to bring Americans from the US to Madeira”, says another person. In a later comment, a Portuguese person denies this theory: “To be honest, we (Portuguese and Europeans) never refer to Madeira or the Azores as the Hawaii of Europe. This trend started recently with the number of Americans who want to visit or live here. I think it is just a marketing strategy that we ourselves hate”. Another still says that “people love to make these false equivalencies for ‘branding’ purposes [associating a brand with a certain idea]” and that, “until 10 years ago, Madeira was only known by elderly English tourists and for wine”.
Were there really marketing intentions behind the genesis of the aforementioned term? A comment posted on the Reddit discussion gives a clue as to its true origin, which has nothing to do with tourism or real estate promotion on our island: “’Hawaii of Europe’ is a term that has been used by the surfing community to refer to Madeira. Obviously, this has spread to the non-surfing community. In terms of surfing, Madeira is certainly like Hawaii when it comes to access to big wave surfing in a European setting.”
In fact, a search through the regional press archives reveals that the first associations with Hawaii appear in reports related to the discovery of Jardim do Mar as a prime location for surfing. Almost 30 years ago, a report in the DIÁRIO dated 5 February 1995 revealed the impact of the publication of articles highlighting the potential of that parish in Calheta. “I really think that Madeira offers similar conditions to what we can find in Hawaii or Haiti”, said Gonçalo Paes, a continental surfer who had moved to our island due to the characteristics of the sea.
However, the first time the term ‘European Hawaii’ appeared associated with Madeira in the regional press was in a report published in DIÁRIO on 18 February 1997 about the Billabong Challenge, a surfing competition held in Jardim do Mar. “Madeira is the Hawaii of Europe”, declared the representative of the sponsor of the event, which was covered by SIC and three specialist magazines, which helped to spread the term.
The fame of the ‘Hawaii of Europe’ has subsequently spread beyond the world of surfing, but official campaigns have sought to restrict the use of the term to the reality of this extreme water sport. “More and more world-renowned icons, such as Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker and Garrett McNamara, are embracing the potential of surfing in Madeira, which is seen as the Hawaii of the Atlantic,” reads the official website of the Madeira Promotion Association.
It is therefore concluded that it is not true that the terms ‘Hawaii of Europe’ and ‘Hawaii of the Atlantic’ were not invented by a marketing agency nor did they originally appear as part of promotional campaigns.
