The Regional Secretary for Energy, Environment and Tourism welcomed the last known data on tourism, according to which, the Azores have hit record highs.
"Without letting ourselves be dazzled by statistics, it is a fact that we are very satisfied with the good work that has been carried out in the Azores regarding this matter, not only in terms of public policies but also in terms of investments made by the private tourism sector in the Azores," said Marta Guerreiro. She spoke in Ponta Delgada on the sidelines of a meeting with tourism professionals.
According to data released by SREA (Regional Statistics Service), Marta Guerreiro pointed out that in 2017, "we were for third consecutive year the fastest growing region in terms of overnight stays. In fact, we closed the year with a positive variation of 16%, reaching the goal of almost 1.8 million overnight stays." In this context, the government official added that, with the release of data on Local Accommodation in March, the archipelago will break two-million barrier of overnight stays, a record high for the Azores.
This satisfaction also arises from the fact that the growth is occurring throughout the archipelago. According to her, "in addition to S. Miguel, with a considerable growth of 19%, there was a substantial growth of 29% on Flores, 13% on S. Jorge and 12% on Terceira."
In this line, Marta Guerreiro emphasised that average number of overnight stays, which stands at 2.6 nights. This figure remains above the national average.
As for revenue in the sector, the archipelago "registered 87 million Euros in overnight stays. This is a noteworthy fact and a good indicator of the increased profitability of hotel establishments, as revenue is growing at higher rates than overnight stays," stated the government official.
Therefore, Marta Guerreiro reiterated the importance of qualification, emphasising that this is also a path to boost profits from the investments that are being made.
"There is a lot of work ahead and qualification is the major challenge," said the Secretary for Tourism. In this regard, she specified that it is "not just qualification in terms of infrastructures, but also in terms of human resources. In fact, only the investment in these two areas will allow us to effectively follow the path we want to achieve the sustainability of the tourism sector, which the greatest goal of all."
For Marta Guerreiro, the Azores will not be a mass tourism destination. In this context, the Region has been developing several tools, namely the Strategic Plan and Marketing of the Azores Tourism and the Tourism Management Plan of the Azores; the latter is expected to be completed at the end of the first semester of this year. These tools will endow the Region with "a strategy that is not in line with any kind of mass tourism."
"We want to grow but, above all, we want to grow with quality in the segments that, in fact, value our tourism offer," said the government official.