Winter campaigns in Scandinavia and Germany will reinforce the notoriety of the Azores destination
Reinforcing the visibility of the archipelago in Germany and Scandinavia as well as repositioning the tourism image of the Azores, particularly in this last market are the main goals of the promotional winter campaigns for these countries. Both campaigns which are already taking place were presented in Ponta Delgada on Monday morning at a public session attended by the Regional Secretary for the Economy, Vasco Cordeiro.
The campaigns to promote the Azores destination in Scandinavia and Germany represent an investment of over 1 million Euros, being composed by several ads to be included in the major written media in the countries comprised by the promotional campaigns as well as by a strong Internet presence. We have prepared materials suitable for distribution among the tourism operators.
According to the Regional Secretary for the Economy, the investment “intends to reposition the Azores destination and the improvement of the message by emphasising our strengths which have been identified by the Tourism Strategic Plan, including activities related to nature, such as whale watching, diving, pedestrian walks, among others.”
Moreover, Vasco Cordeiro pointed out the positive results achieved by the Region in the German market, as demonstrated by the fact that “there was a growth of 28 percent between January and November 2009 in comparison to the same period in 2008, which represents an increase of nearly 18 thousand overnight stays.”
In the case of Scandinavia, Vasco Cordeiro pointed out that these campaigns are launched in a period when SATA leads the air connections with the Azores, a fact “that demonstrates that this is a market that still has an enormous growth potential for the Azores.”
The Regional Secretary for the Economy has also alerted for the “need to maintain the joint effort between those involved in the area, as the predictions of the World Tourism Organisation in 2010 indicate that these cannot resume the growth tendency in previous years, despite an expected increase of 3 percent in the sector.”
According to the Regional Secretary, the promotional campaigns that were presented on Monday “do not mean, however, that this is the conclusion of something.” “Quite the opposite, these campaigns symbolise the starting point for the work has to be developed in the future with the purpose of enhancing the visibility of the Azores destination and contributing to their promotion in these markets.”
“This work is developed in a moment when the economic context requires that all should work in a joint effort in order to overcome the challenges of the tourism sector,” stated Vasco Cordeiro.