The Regional Secretary for Tourism and Transport stated in Madalena that the Azores are clearly a nature destination, stressing that the development of the sector and its external projection should be based on "the perspective of a nature destination and the complementarity between all islands."

Speaking to reporters Saturday after attending a panel on tourism on the island of Pico under the first "Sentir o Pico" (Feeling Pico) Festival, Vítor Fraga stressed that the main pillars of Azorean tourism are "based on economic, environmental and social sustainability."

In this regard, the government official stressed that tourism is only good "if it is actually good for those who live here.” According to him, this premise "should underpin the construction of our future as a tourist destination that is the most sustainable in the world and we are the only region in the world distinguished with the Platinum Quality Coast award."

"These two awards demonstrate what we are and pass the message that we can go on," said the government official.

With regard to the "mountain island," the Regional Secretary for Tourism highlighted that in terms of the main tourism indicators, "Pico follows the trend in the Region, registering a growth of around 20%, which evidences the good moment we are living in the sector." This is "not only the result of good indicators, but above all it is result of the trust the sector generates among entrepreneurs."

As evidence of this trust, Vítor Fraga revealed that "there are currently requests for the prior approval of 300 new beds on Pico."

Regarding a possible increase of air links, Vítor Fraga recalled that this is the zero year in the implementation of the new accessibility model and, as such, "its assessment is being carried out and, in due course, the airline will respond to the natural trends in demand, as it has done this year."

"Under the new model of accessibility to the Region, the number of flights to Pico doubled in comparison to the number of flights established by Public Service Obligations. This year, there has been a increase of links in order to meet the growing demand during the summer," added the government official.

Vítor Fraga also addressed the new operation recently presented by TUI, which will link Amsterdam to Pico, stressing that it will turn this island into a gateway.

For the Regional Secretary, this link "is more than an operation, because we will have another gateway in the Region for the European market that will not only benefit Pico, but also the islands of Faial and São Jorge.

Vítor Fraga mentioned that the installed capacity in terms of number of beds is "naturally satisfying," pointing out that this operation "did not come out of thin air; it was under consideration by the tour operator" before it was made public and sold in its sales channels.

Vítor Fraga recalled that the Strategic and Marketing Plan for Tourism with the Horizon 2020 is in the final stages of preparation, followed by the Tourism Management Plan of the Autonomous Region of the Azores (POTRAA). In this context, the government official added that "POTRAA will define the tourism capacity that should exist on each island."

"As for the hotel offer on Pico Island, I would say that we have been followed the right path," said the Regional Secretary.