The new campaign to promote the Azores Destination in the national market for the next season was presented in Ponta Delgada. The promotional campaign features the presentation of a new product -Ticket Menu Azores, which consists in a pre-paid meal system at the restaurants that have joined this initiative.
According to the Regional Secretary for the Economy, who participated in the presentation of the new campaign,” national tourists will now have the possibility of planning their holiday budget."
The Ticket Menu Azores project is based on the assumption that tourists when buy the travel package for the Azores, it may already include "travel, accommodation and food costs." According to the government official, "over a hundred regional restaurants have joined this initiative, which already provides a response to the challenges this sector currently faces."
During the presentation, the Regional Secretary for the Economy, Luísa Schanderl, considered the beginning of this new campaign is "will demonstrate that the Azores have not given up on the national market despite the prediction of another difficult year in this market as a result the implementation of austerity measures." "Quite the contrary," the government official assured, considering that the new product, "which results from the joint action of all operators, demonstrates that the Region continues to these problems."
According to Luísa Schanderl, the Azores Tourism has been working in order to carry out a structural change to strengthen to weight of international overnight stays compared national overnight stays. "This is a change that cannot be achieved overnight; it requires hard work, particularly regarding the strengthening of the external project of the Azores destination. However, the figures already show some results with the increase of overnight stays from Germany, Spain, United States, Canada, Belgium, among others."
For the Regional Secretary for the Economy, there is “every reason to hope for the coming winter season as well as for the next year's high season in the context of international markets." "In fact, the figures demonstrate the enormous growth potential of the Azores and we are working on it."