The Regional Secretary for Tourism and Transport stated that sport "will always be an ally of tourism, not only in its promotion, but also in the in increase of tourism flows." The government official stressed that the Government believes that sport can provide a "valuable help" in overcoming some weaknesses in this sector, such as the issue of seasonality.
"The promotion of sports events in the Region at this time can effectively reduce the problem of seasonality and contribute to the sustainability of the destination," said Vítor Fraga.
For this reason, the government official assured that "the Government of the Azores will continue supporting all quality sports events with return in terms of the promotion of tourism and the increase of tourism flows."
Speaking at the presentation of the official DVD of the first edition of the International Tournament Pauleta Azores Soccer Cup U13 on Tuesday night, Vítor Fraga revealed that the Regional Government will support the second edition of this competition as it did in the first edition.
"We will naturally support this competition because we believe this is a type of event that has a great potential in the promotion of the Azores Destination and it also plays an important role in the increase of tourism flows.
Furthermore, this initiative encourages youngsters to enter in a competitive environment that often lacks in various activities," stressed the government official.
Vítor Fraga emphasised that these initiatives allow us to take "important steps" to render Azorean athletes "effectively competitive at the highest level." We know that "being good is not enough; sometimes we have to be the best."
For the Regional Secretary, the first edition of this tournament has led to the implementation of this idea. "Pauleta and his team believed they could do it and they were able to organise not only a good tournament, but an excellent competition we wish to maintain over the years. We expect that this event achieves the relevance we all acknowledge and it will be always welcomed by all Azoreans."