The construction of the Santa Maria Youth Hostel “is being carried out at a good pace, respecting the deadlines that estimate its conclusion by February 2012,” stressed the Regional Secretary of the Presidency during a visit to the construction site of that public infrastructure.
André Bradford stressed the “dynamics of the youth travel market,” which “has registered an increase in demand by 7%.” In this context, the Santa Maria Youth Hostel “will not only benefit Azorean youngsters in general, as this type of tourism offer will increase, but it will be also an asset for the island of Santa Maria,” since it will “enhance its accommodation capacity, which will attract more tourists, thus bringing more business opportunities to its economy.”
The Regional Secretary of the Presidency rejected the existence of any difficulty concerning the implementation of the project in the field and said that “it is inconceivable that someone might think that a work is planned for a specific space and then it does not correspond to the actual site. This “rumour” is false and the Santa Maria islanders may rest assured, as the construction works are being carried out normally and their Youth Hostel will become a reality in February 2012.”
The Santa Maria Youth Hostel, whose first stone was laid three months ago, represents a Regional Government’s investment of one million eight hundred thousand Euros.