Sales of travel packages for Terceira to tourists travelling with Delta Airlines register "clearly positive" figures, says Marta Guerreiro
The Regional Secretary for Energy, Environment and Tourism highlighted the clearly "positive" data of the virtual interline that was created following the commercial collaboration protocol signed between Azores Getaways and SATA Air Açores. More than 100 "São Miguel+Terceira" packages were sold in just 20 days, corresponding to about 230 tourists travelling with Delta Airlines.
Marta Guerreiro spoke at the opening of the seminar on" Interactive and Smart Tourism: challenges for island spaces." On the occasion, she considered that these figures represent "more than a full Delta flight" in this short period of time. In this context, "this marketing initiative will increase the influx of American tourists" to Terceira, which, according to companies, will also extend to the other islands of the archipelago.
"From early March, Azores Getaways has provided combination packages and flights between Delta Airlines and SATA Air Açores from the United States to Terceira (and vice-versa)," stressed the government official.
Besides this initiative, the Secretary for Tourism stated that "the efforts to attract round-the-year tourism operations have been under way since 2016 in the specific case of Terceira. This is the case of operation with major impact on the island's tourism performance, such as the Boston or Madrid operations; the latter was interrupted in December but is due to be resumed in October, as already announced."
According to the Regional Secretary, "these are some examples" of the Regional Government's commitment to the strategy towards the decentralisation of tourism flows and the increase of tourism flows on other islands in order to mitigate the seasonality of tourism. In the case of Terceira, seasonality rate stands at 51%, "the lowest of the archipelago."
"I must stress the hard work we have done to ensure the reduction of seasonality in the tourism sector," stressed Marta Guerreiro. "This winter, we have developed campaigns in partnership with national operators to boost tourism flows from February to May with special focus on the island of Terceira in order to counterbalance the absence of flights from Spain, registering more than 1,500 overnight stays."
On the occasion, the Regional Secretary highlighted the "fundamental role played by all agents who have invested in projects in this sector." Without their contribution, it would not have been possible to "leverage this emerging sector" by reinforcing the importance of a joint effort in which the dynamics of agents "are a vital part for the good tourism performance of Terceira."
As regards the seminar's theme, the government official stated that "talking about creative and smart tourism on islands such as the Azores shows, once again, that we are following the path towards our consolidation as tourist destination. Currently, we are working on specific segments that value our identity, our uniqueness and our authenticity, always in a collaboration process that offers visitors the experience of living the local culture and knowing the community."
"In fact, the growth of the sector, which involves the preservation of the environment, is also based on a cultural component," stressed Marta Guerreiro. For this reason, "the Regional Government annually supports dozens of entities promoting tourism in the Azores through cultural initiatives aimed at the dissemination of our culture and traditions," generating added value for all."