The Azores intend to become a national reference and Portugal's main nature destination, said the Regional Secretary for the Economy in Velas today, considering that this is a fundamental aspect for sector's future. "We want to provide an increasing number of activities to visitors and not just nature observation activities," said Vasco Cordeiro during the presentation of the 6th Rural Tourism Biennial to be held on São Jorge in April.
"We have all the conditions to assert the Azores as a nature tourism region and I think this is the path that should be followed as this type of tourism, which is closely related to rural tourism, may play an important role in the creation of jobs and the development of new companies providing this type of services."
According to Vasco Cordeiro, rural tourism "has been registered a dramatic increase in supply, contrary to the drop in traditional overnight stays. Nowadays, rural tourism represents about 10 percent of the available bed supply in the archipelago, being a niche market that continues to register an increase in demand."
The Regional Secretary for the Economy also stressed that the supply "is growing both in quantity and quality," and there are even some islands "where supply already exceeds that provided by traditional hotels."
For the government official, the work that has been developed aims to "evolve from a contemplative tourism to a type of tourism based on experience." In this context, "we intend to invest even further in experience and less in the contemplative aspect of tourism. We intend that tourists, when visiting the Azores, do not simply observe our natural beauties, but enjoy them," concluded the Regional Secretary.