The Regional Director for Rural Development stated that agrotourism may provide a significant contribution to increasing the profitability of small farmers by helping them to turn their farms into added-value products and services.
 
"Offering traditional and sustainable agricultural practices and visits is an excellent way to create or expand micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the areas of entertainment, catering, agro-products and handicrafts," said Fernando Sousa. The government official spoke at the opening of the seminar on agriculture and tourism "Embracing Challenges, Projecting the Future," an event organised by Ribeira Grande Vocational Training School.
 
Fernando Sousa pointed out that the Azores have "good and unique examples", such as the case of the tea factories and the liquor factory, located in the municipality of Ribeira Grande, on São Miguel.
 
"They demonstrate the best symbiosis we can have between agriculture and tourism, given its relevance to the local economy and job creation," stressed the Regional Director. He added that the growth of tourism in the archipelago also requires "an increase in the need for food production and, in this regard, Azorean agriculture has all the conditions to provide this response."
 
"Sometimes we forget that many our visitors have never seen a cow before and did not know what a tea plant was like," the government official said, considering that sometimes "opportunities are right under our feet, we just have to look at things differently."
 
In his speech, the Regional Director recalled that young people have at their disposal a system of incentives designated as PRORURAL+. It comprises a measure exclusively dedicated to those wishing to install themselves in agriculture, whose maximum premium can reach 50 thousand Euros, in addition to the support to investments.