The Regional Secretary of the Presidency stated in Horta that the Interjovem Card, in its latest version, will count on nearly 250 partners across the archipelago.

The information was provided by André Bradford during a press conference addressed at the presentation of the 2011/2012 Interjovem Card, whose validity will be extended to April 2012.

With a cost 48 Euros, this card, which is an initiative developed by the Regional Government, intends to promote in the archipelago the mobility of youngsters aged between 13 and 30 at the date of purchase.
 
For André Bradford, the annual launch of this initiative is always an “occasion of satisfaction and pride” for the Government of the Azores since the Interjovem Card is “a heritage and an asset which the Socialist Government has achieved” on youth policy.

As he explained, this card was originally designed as “a tool to support the mobility of young Azoreans,” enabling the use of inter-island maritime transport with considerable financial benefits to their holders.

However, the Secretary said, “we have been able to gradually extend the use of the card to the main requests of youngsters,” thus “meeting the expectations in the allocation of benefits associated to the card.”

The Regional Secretary of the Presidency also said that negotiations to include inter-island routes in the list of benefits and discounts offered by the card are already in progress.
 
André Bradford also stated that, in addition to promoting mobility, the Government “has been trying to reinforce” the benefits provided in the area of accommodation, privileging the network of Youth Hostels of the Azores.

On the islands   where youth hostels are unavailable, several partnerships were established with hotels and tourism units, added the Secretary.

Since the creation of Interjovem card, whose present edition will have as official partners Bes/Açores and PT, through the operators TMN, Sapo and Meo, 63,000 cards have been sold on the Azores islands.

According to the Regional Director for Youth, who also attended the launch of this initiative, the operation of the Interjovem Card has an annual overall cost of 700,000 Euros, which are finances by the sale of cards and by the Regional Budget as well.