The President of the Government highlighted today the important role that the Azores have to play in building and strengthening economic, political and institutional links between Portugal and the United States and Canada, a potential that our country still fails to fully seize
 
"The fact that we are an Autonomous Region, that is, an intra-state entity may add a new layer to the construction and affirmation of this relation with federal states, such as the case of the United States of America, or the provinces, in the case of Canada," said Vasco Cordeiro.
 
The President of the Government spoke in Horta, where the parliamentary debate on the Programme for the Government is taking place, on the occasion of the opening of the 28th National Hotel and Tourism Congress taking place in Ponta Delgada; this year's edition is held under theme "Portugal: Atlantic dimension."
 
In his speech, he pointed out the economic, political and institutional relations should be based on emotional ties and history, a process in which, once again, the "Azores can make a contribution to the accomplishment of this goal; the latter should become an aspiration of our country."
 
"As for the various possibilities of addressing the matter, I would like to point out the potential in the strengthening of links between Portugal and the United States and Canada or, under a more ambitious perspective, the strengthening of links between the European Union and each of these countries, and the leadership role that our country should even play in this process," said the President of the Government.
 
Vasco Cordeiro recalled that the Azores have a "Sister State Agreement" - which can be translated as twinning - with the state of California since 2002 and with the state of Massachusetts since 2008.
 
According to him, this was the way the Region found to add a political and institutional component to its relation between both states on the basis of its emotional ties. The states of California and Massachusetts were the destination of Azorean migration from the late 19th century and early 20th century.
 
"For those who argue that our country has an undeniable Atlantic dimension, despite not being fully realised, and For those who consider that this dimension should more stronger and noticeable, I believe that the present time and its challenges, namely the peculiarity of the U.S. administration that will take office early next year, require us to use or, at least, seek new approaches and new tools to foster this relation. This may even happen at different level of the existing relations between countries or sovereign states; however, it should also have a significant political and institutional expression," defended the President of the Government.
 
After pointing out that this approach should take place with the multiplication of channels for this relation, the President of the Government stated that "Portugal has, in this context, tools and possibilities of action that are yet to be used, either by choice or by mere carelessness."
 
At the opening of this Congress, Vasco Cordeiro stressed that recently released data concerning the first nine months of 2016 confirm that tourism in the Azores is living a moment of consolidated growth
 
"The U.S. market is, among the foreign tourist markets Azores, is the second largest. In the first nine months of this year, it registered an annual growth of about 57%," the President of the Government said, adding that "the importance of the so-called ethnic tourism market is decreasing."
 
In his speech, Vasco Cordeiro defended that, in a highly competitive industry at European and global level, the added value generated by the promotion of Portugal at national and regional level is quite evidence. In fact, our country has the "archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira which, due their Atlantic dimension and sustainability, have left a strong and unique mark in Portugal as tourist destination."
 
"This is a potentiality that must also be seized by private operators, who will certainly find in the Azores an attractive tourism product for the various markets where they operate, bearing in mind that these markets are always eager to find secure and attractive destinations between Europe and America," said the President of the Government.