The Regional Secretariat for Energy, Environment and Tourism, through the Regional Directorate for Tourism, promotes a set of initiatives on all islands in the context of the celebrations of the World Tourism Day next Thursday.
 
Through the network of tourist information offices, the Government promotes several actions to provide tourists with a better knowledge on the Azorean reality and the specificities of the Azores, namely culture, gastronomy, handicrafts and regional products.
 
Hence, visitors will have a closer contact with a gastronomic itinerary composed of regional products. They will have the opportunity to taste regional cheeses, wines and liqueurs as well as traditional confectionery from each Azorean island.
 
Guests staying at tourism accommodation units throughout the archipelago will be offered regional products.
 
In addition to these initiatives, the date will be also marked with various entertainment activities in sites of tourist interest.
 
There will be several performances by folk dance groups on the islands of Santa Maria, Pico, São Jorge and Terceira; the latter will also organise two minibus city tours.
 
The Ethnographic Group of Castelo Branco has scheduled performance on Faial, while the União Operária e Cultural Nossa Senhora dos Remédios philharmonic band will hold a concert on Flores. In turn, the island of Graciosa will offer horse carriage rides in the central square.
 
On the island of São Miguel, street bands will perform in the centres of Ribeira Grande and Ponta Delgada, and along the Caldeira Natural Monument. Moreover, there are planned activities at Parque Atlântico Shopping Centre in Ponta Delgada, which include a trail and games with the aim of informing participants about the care with the endemic plants found along trails and good pedestrian practices. In the context of this activity, there will be mobile information station featuring an exhibition of endemic plant species.
 
Established by the World Tourism Organisation since 1980, the World Tourism Day is annually celebrated on September 27 with the purpose of demonstrating the importance of tourism as well as of its cultural, economic, political and social value through initiatives carried out in several countries around the world.
 
The 2018 world celebrations will focus on tourism and digital transformation as the main theme. They are intended to raise awareness for the potential contribution of digital technologies in the development of sustainable tourism, while becoming a platform for investment, partnerships and collaboration in an increasingly responsible and inclusive sector.
 
This event represents another opportunity to raise the awareness of the entire community for the contribution of tourism to the sustainable development of the Azores, thus fostering the sharing of experiences between locals and visitors.