The Regional Secretary for Tourism and Transport announced in Ponta Delgada today that the powers of the Azores Tourism Association (ATA) will be reinforced in the promotion of the Azores Destination.

Speaking to journalists after a meeting with the board of ATA, Vítor Fraga stressed that the Government intends that "the promotion of the Azores for all markets be focused on ATA."

The definition of short-term strategies for 2013 was also addressed at this working meeting to discuss the restructuring of the promotion of the Azores in several markets. These strategies are intended to tackle the expected drop in the national tourism market.

Hence, Vítor Fraga added that "a series of actions to be implemented with the main tour operators will be defined in order to reduce the decline of tourists and promote the coming of more national tourists to the Azores next year."

These measures, which will be released in due time, "involve all tour operators as well as all entities in the sector," the Regional Secretary stressed, adding that "this is a path that we must follow together with the involvement of the entire Azores trade."

The Regional Secretary for Tourism and Transport expressed his belief in the possibility of "increasing tourism flows to the Azores and promoting incentive tourism through a field work developed among the main decision-makers."