The Azores continue to promote their international projection as a tourist destination as well as to reinforce their presence in the international market "since this is a strategy has shown effective results" as evidenced by "the increase in the number of nights spent by foreign tourists in the Azores last year," said the Regional Secretary for the Economy in Lisbon today.

Vasco Cordeiro met with the boards of the Regional Tourism Association and the Azores Tourism Association at the Lisbon Travel Market, stressing the work "that has been carried out by these two entities in the promotion of the archipelago," notably through the participation in fairs. The recent presence at an diving event that took place in Germany or the promotional campaigns being held in various European countries, the United States and Canada as well as in the national market are some of the examples of the initiatives developed by both entities. These projects correspond to an investment of about eight million Euros."

Reinforcing the projection of the Azores at the international level "is not something that can be solved in a year, it is rather a work that is developed every year," the government official said, reminding that the investment in foreign markets "is of fundamental importance at a time when the national market is being affected by austerity measures imposed on the country."

The Regional Secretary for Economic assured, however, that the Region "cannot drop their presence in the national market"; for that reason "some campaigns will be reinforced over the coming months through actions targeted at tourism operators and the organisation of a campaign addressed at the public in general.”

According to Vasco Cordeiro, "the national market represents about 50 percent of the total number of overnight stays; hence it is necessary to invest in foreign markets so that any disturbance that might exist in the national market does not compromise the performance of the sector in our Region. One of our main challenges is to increase our projection: this goal may be achieved by working with the operators selling the destination, but also by instilling in people the desire to know the Azores, that is, make people search for operators because they wish to visit the Azores."

"This work must be done permanently," Vasco Cordeiro said, ensuring that "the promotion of the sector should focus on the attraction of tourists to the Region, after a first phase marked by the need to create infrastructures that currently have an effective response capacity."