The organisation of the 21st National Underwater Photography Championship, to be held on Santa Maria next September, "is a moment of great importance for the island as well as for its contribution to the tourism promotion of the Azores through an activity with high economic potential in job creation and wealth generation," defended the Regional Secretary for the Economy in Vila do Porto on Tuesday morning.

Vasco Cordeiro spoke at the presentation ceremony of the event, organised by the local Clube Naval, considering it "an investment in the tourism promotion and development of the Azores." In addition, this initiative also "represents a new direction of our promotional strategy for Azorean products and what they have to offer."

In fact, "the investment in these activities brings a great economic potential which the Azores should increasingly enhance, given their contribution to the increase in revenue and the support to the development of each of our islands."

In this specific case, "the organisation of an event of this nature will bring benefits to the island of Santa Maria and abroad as these events are very important for enhancing the promotion of the Azores."

According to Vasco Cordeiro, the Azores "should increasingly focus on a promotion strategy based on the qualification of our products because we have a wide offer and because this is the strategy that best serves our interests."

The Regional Secretary for the Economy also announced that SATA will launch a campaign to promote the Azores in the U.S. and Canadian market. "This initiative aims to reinforce the growth of our destination in these markets, which are very important  in the context of the ethnic market of nostalgia and the potential brought by the promotion of Azorean products in these countries."