The Regional Secretary for Tourism and Transport revealed in Ponta Delgada that cruise tourism in the Azores had its best year ever in 2015, registering more than 140 thousand passengers in 138 ports of call, representing a financial impact over 4.2 million Euros.
 
Speaking at the presentation of the Cruise Season 2015/2016, Vítor Fraga stressed that the Azores had in 2015 "the best year ever in the tourism sector," a trend that was also recorded in cruises. In this regard, the government official stressed that 2015 "was a fantastic year, breaking records in terms of ports of call and passengers."
 
In the year when, for the first time, there were cruise ports of call every month, Vítor Fraga highlighted the fact that "these calls brought to the Azores more than 141 passengers, mostly from the United Kingdom, USA, Germany and Canada, which contributed to an impact over 4.2 million Euros in the Azorean economy in the same period of time."
 
The Regional Secretary also emphasised that, by exceeding 130 thousand passengers per year, the Azores are now considered a "large port" according to MedCruise, the Mediterranean cruise agency. According to him, this is the recognition of the "good work we have been developing."
 
The Secretary for Tourism stressed that cruise activity in Azorean ports "has been registering a significant growth." The number of passengers increased 38% in the last three years, from 102,881 to 141,847 passengers, a growth of nearly 40 thousand passengers.
 
"With regard to ports of call, there was an increase from 122 in 2012 to 138 in 2015," added the government official.
 
"These results also reflect the large investment the Regional Government made in quality infrastructures," Vítor Fraga said, stressing that the Region "has taken the right options" when it decided to investment in cruise tourism.
 
"The evolution has been very positive and is naturally associated with the skills the Regional Government has passed on to specialised welcoming of passengers in our ports, the government official stressing, recalling that the Azores are nowadays "recognised as a qualified port of call at international level."
 
In his speech, the Regional Secretary also emphasised that cruise tourism provides thousands of people with the opportunity to make contact with the Azores, defending the need of the trade sector to adapt its offer and highlighting "the key role of tourism leisure activities in the success of cruise tourism."
 
"If cruise tourists become interested and attracted to the Azores, it is likely that they will choose to return by their own means, which will undoubtedly have a positive impact on our economy," Vítor Fraga said, noting that it may also become "an important promotional tool of the destination, for free."
 
The Secretary for Tourism called for the need to maintain the good momentum of growth in this sector through promotional activities that show the Region as more than a mere market between the USA and Europe. In this context, he stressed the importance of joint work to continue showing the diversity of each island, while safeguarding social and environmental responsibility.
 
"In the Azores, we do not work for statistics", Vítor Fraga said, adding that statistics "is, rather, the logical consequence of hard work, based on a strategic and integrated vision of what each of our islands and each of our municipalities may offer as added value in a logic of complementarity and recognition of what set us apart."